State of Nature

The bell for fourth hour rung, and my Spanish III Honors class was in a tizzy. Some were frantically studying for the vocab quiz we were supposed to have, some were socializing, and a few of us noticed that a substitute teacher was no where in sight. We knew our teacher was playing in her mariachi band at a local Cinco de Mayo event, but we did not expect to be left completely alone. Minutes went by, and after some time, we closed the door, shut off the lights, and hoped no one would notice that we were left unattended. At first we were pretty nervous, being paranoid honors students and all, but a little while later we decided to make the best of the situation. We played the elementary school game "Heads Up Seven Up," we filmed a "Harlem Shake Video" and we even created our own version of MTVs "Silent Library" by daring one another to do embarrassing tasks in complete silence. Lucky for you, reader, I filmed all of the teacher-less activities, which can be seen on my Twitter. As leaders of our class, my peers and I kept ourselves under complete control, which I do not believe could be feasible in any other class. Not only did this experience show how responsible and civil teenagers actually are, but it also brought me and a peer closer. This girl and I had been best friends since fourth grade, but have drifted apart this year and barely talk at all. Today, we rekindled a friendship [kind of] and things seemed better for the 90 minutes we shared together. I think being put under the pressure and circumstance of our situation made everyone a little more tolerant, responsible, and even creative. And yes, 90 minutes did go by in our classroom without a teacher ever showing up and anyone ever questioning why we were alone. 

xxx