In Denial
Meet my brain barf senioritis essay/article for English class!
In Denial
by Erica L. Alcantara
I am flying. I am soaring at exhilarating speeds. I am enjoying the breathtaking view, the cool breeze, the warm sun, the beeping of the alarm clo- wait.
I open my eyes, blearily glance at the clock, and find out that it’s just 5:45 a.m. “5 more minutes,” I mumble and easily go back to sleep. Somehow, I pick up where I left off and continue my journey across the skies. Suddenly, I feel shaking. Turbulence? I didn’t know I was riding a plane.
My mom shakes me awake. “Are you going to school today? Maybe you should just be absent,” she suggests. Why would I skip school? That’s preposterous! How about an extra 5 minutes of sleep though? No senioritis here.
I drag myself to the bathroom and notice that it’s already 6:15. I brush my teeth, shower, and make no attempts to quicken my pace. Why rush? I have no idea why I used to get up so early in the previous school years. My school is two minutes away. Yup! No senioritis at all.
It’s time to watch some early morning news as I enjoy a nice breakfast of hot toast. It’s always great to be aware of what’s going on in the community. Today, I will be able to handle any situation that may occur; furthermore, it is an excellent time for love because I am a Pisces. “No, mom, I am not going to be late! Chill!”
Strangely, there is no traffic at Gate 4 although it’s already 6:55. I walk to my classroom only to find that it is almost empty. The six inhabitants of the room are currently asleep. I’m so glad to see them in school today! We are such responsible students not suffering from senioritis.
By 7:15, nearly the whole class has arrived. Like all other mornings, we begin the day by praying the rosary. Most are so deep in prayer. Their eyes are closed, and their heads are bowed down. They have opted to pray silently on their own instead of join the minority that continues to recite the prayers verbally. I hope that I will also be able to achieve this peace and tranquillity in meditation one day.
We have a quiz during our first period. It doesn’t matter that we didn’t study for it last night. Everything should be stock knowledge by now anyway... I got a 7/10? That’s alright! I still passed, and I know can always do better next time.
The rest of the day goes routinely. As I look around the room, I find that many of my classmates have mastered the art of multitasking. As they listen to our teacher discuss, they are also finalizing their assignments for another subject. This thoroughness when it comes to homework is the mark of a graduating student. I’m happy none of us have senioritis.
I go home, have a snack, then go up to my room to study. I look at my to-do list: three quizzes to study for, two things to read, one thing to answer, one take home quiz, one research assignment. That’s not a lot of things to do. Of course I can take a short nap first.
I wake up from my nap and discover I overslept. With only two hours to midnight, I know I can waste no time. I decide to start with the research assignment. Before I can enter anything into the search engine, I find myself clicking links on my tabs toolbar. All the social networking sites I frequent suddenly load before me. The undivided attention I give to the tweets on my Twitter homepage is sidetracked only by the notifications on my Facebook news feed.
At 1 a.m., I decide that I am too exhausted to continue working. I finished most of my assignments in the past three hours, yet I wasn’t able to study for two quizzes. I wave my fears away as I fix my things. I know I will have time to review during recess. If I don’t, I can always rely on stock knowledge. I can’t fail! (If I do fail, at least I’m assured that I already have a college.)
I crawl into bed at 1:30. Again, I soar through the heavens. I grin as I experience the familiar feeling of flying. Almost immediately, I feel myself being pulled down. I’m falling. I’m about to crash, yet I can’t do anything about it.
The next thing I know is that I am on a stretcher and being wheeled into an emergency room. Doctors and nurses crowd around me. One nurse asks what the diagnosis is.
I try to find my voice, but I can’t. I can’t explain that I was just flying. I was just mindlessly enjoying my trip around the skies when this suddenly happened. I can’t identify what’s wrong with me, so one doctor speaks up.
“Senioritis.”