An essay to my English teacher.

This was a difficult essay to write. It was difficult in the same way a depressed therapist must comfort his clients, a depraved priest must teach his pupils, a detached parent must love his child.

It was difficult to lie.

As students, we must always find the happy medium of honesty and placation. We must constantly choose between appeasing our teachers and appeasing our muse. We must decide daily whether to pour out our hearts onto paper and to set free our own, imprisoned thoughts or to take the trusted, safe, well-beaten path and receive the better grade. For there is a thin line between intelligent and conformed, yet a far thicker line between pleasing and truthful.

As students, we must walk that line.

So when I say that this 500 word expository essay (typed, double-spaced) was difficult to write, it is because I must struggle to write an apology for a crime I feel no guilt over, yet at the same time mollify my teacher who seems so in need of an apology.

Now, let us read this essay.

I suppose the responsible thing to do now is to say that I hindered my fellow classmates, as well as myself, from being informed of the many opportunities at Fountain Valley High School and then write 480 more eloquent “please-forgive-me” words. But I must be honest. I do not believe I caused much chaos last Friday.

I took the liberty of observing my classmates during announcements today and found that they were all either talking with their friends, staring blankly into space, or messing around with the papers on their desk. Not to say they weren’t paying attention. In fact, I’m sure some of them know which room to go to if they wanted to sign up for the BBN. But the amount of people actually paying attention, despite the quiet conditions, made me doubt my interruption last Friday caused any quantifiable disturbance.

Ironically as I observed those around me, I realized I was distracting myself from the announcements. I faced myself forward, picked up a few random words such as “laptop” and “yearbook” before becoming incredibly interested with the ellipses I could form by twirling the papers on my desk. I must be honest again; I feel I paid more attention last week when I knew I could comment on whatever the announcer said. It made the announcements more fun, more interactive. I’m fairly positive “fun” and “interactive” greatly increases retention rate. On the other hand, I’m not the one with a career in education.

So, to recap, I am unable to identify any significant effects upon my classmates or myself. I greatly doubt anyone was seriously hindered by my interruptions. Besides, morning announcements are not the school’s main source of information. Most information is shared by poster or word of mouth. In fact, if something is truly important, ASB sends representatives during class time in order to announce said important announcement. Also, the announcements are posted outside of the activities office. If a student actually required knowledge of a certain subject, they could easily check them during passing period or lunch. For these reasons, I have concluded that my interruptions did not interrupt much at all.

Of course, interrupting the class is not restricted to the morning announcements. But when I pondered over other ways that I disturb the classroom setting, nothing came to mind. Maybe I’m dull. In fact, I’m probably dull. Because I’m definitely not a saint. But it is quite difficult to explain the effects of my disturbances when none, besides morning announcements, come to mind.

Again, I do not want to claim to be perfect. It was without a doubt disrespectful and immature to disregard your requests for a quiet climate in which the morning announcements are more easily perceived. So, for disobeying your orders, I do ask for forgiveness. However, I cannot bring myself to apologize for disrupting the class because, as far as I can tell, I have done no such thing.

As for strategies to avoid further interruptions, the most viable option is to not pay attention during the morning announcements. One of my greatest flaws is my tongue, quick to criticize and slow to think. The way I see it, the less I hear, the less input I have on the subject. Perhaps I can apply this to the rest of my classes. I may become less of a distraction.

I hope this essay sufficiently explained my observations. If it is unclear, I would be happy to explain it in person. It was, after all, quite difficult to write.






Your student,

Alex Chiang