201301511 Yukyung Bang
I sometimes hear my friends from high school saying "I wish I could go back to the school days." I get it. They miss the times spent with their friends and teachers in the classroom. Even though how hard it was to prepare for the university entrance exam, painful memories are subject to fade away with time. However, there is one memory that does not grow dim even after four years.
It was 8:30 in the morning when all other students had already arrived at school. As we were third year students, we used to do English listening test before the first class starts. I was sitting down with my textbook opened when the TV was turned on. The school's vice principal appeared on the screen, looking angry. He said in a firm voice, "This is not acceptable in our school." He turned on a video, and all my classmates stared at me. In the video, I was walking down the street with my boyfriend holding hands.
Later, I could get an explanation from my homeroom teacher. My school was a coed school and dating between students were strictly banned as studying should be the top priority. Boys and girls couldn't talk at the corridor and even send text messages to each other. Obviously, I thought this rule was a garbage and didn't follow it. One Saturday after school, I met my boyfriend to walk home together. Unfortunately, the vice principal, Mr. Dolores Umbridge, saw us and started recording us with the black box in his car to broadcast so that the entire school could see it. It was an exemplary punishment given to us.
My homeroom teacher said she was disappointed because she thought I was a "good student" and warned me to break up with him immediately. She also said that I could no more stay at school for self-study after school. One month of cleaning work was given to me as a punishment. I ignored them all. Instead, I went to see the vice principal. It was already after he read through all the text messages exchanged between us from the phone he had taken from my boyfriend. I told him that what he had done was a crime and should not be acceptable. He seemed a lot surprised to see a student rebelling against him.
With help from my parents who believed and supported their daughter, I could eventually receive an apology from him. Even though things ended well, I had to spend the rest of my school days very uncomfortably. However, I learned from this experience that even though almost everyone but myself thought I was wrong, having the ability to giving a clear opinion is an important way to live a life.
201101787 Gitae Shin
ReplyDeleteI thought, at the beginning,you were going to talk about a brilliant memory back in high school. However, it did not take long for me to realize what happened to you. While reading your story, I cannot help raising my eyebrows because what you have gone through was total nonsense to me.
As I went to the boy-only high school, I could not have a chance to experience a thing even able to be called similar, but what the school authority said to you was not reasonable and not convincing.
How you responded to it, I personally think, deserves applauds. I have to admit that going against teachers is really difficult and sometimes almost impossible. I do respect your brave action which most students cannot even imagine at that time. Also I think how you developed the story made me keep focusing on the line.
Oh my gosh! I am sorry to hear that you had to endure such a horrible experience during high school. This sounds like something that I would imagine existing only in Korean drama or Korean movies. Actually reading this made me realise how much harder Korean students have it than from what I had previously expected. It sounds preposterous to take away your right and go through your privacy, as I went to school in the US where actions such as this would result in law suits or even worst. I do believe that study should be at students top priority, but not at the expense of taking away one's freedom. Anyways kudos to you for handling so well and taking action, I believe many would have just let it slide. By starting with an event, and going back in time to explain what had happened to what kind of measures you took to get the results, it was an overall interesting read.
ReplyDeleteKim Young Woo