I don’t know if it’s just me, but being a student at Temple City somehow means that you’re held up to a predestined standard no one can deny. Students are expected to be at the top of their game, and any slip up automatically gets magnified, and within a passing period, the entire school knows what happened.
The fact that students here are pressured not only by their families, but also by their peers is terrifying. It’s as if every single student that holds a position in an organization or club is held in a spotlight while his peers are watching from the sidelines, waiting to pounce on any mistake. I understand that none of the events during the year are perfect, but I can honestly say that there is effort and passion behind every single one of them.
A couple of weeks ago, there were rants online about Yearbook and Winter Formal. Normally I would brush off rants as things that people normally complained about, but these rants were downright rude and hurtful. I couldn’t wrap my head around why someone would say such cruel things, especially online where information and fights could spread like wildfire. And I just want to say that ASB Leadership, Yearbook and the rest of the organizations on campus are extremely hardworking despite what people say.
Some people say that ASB does nothing besides sit around, make posters and say the ridiculously long bulletin. The same thing is said about Yearbook: a group of kids that wanted an easy A while taking pictures and sitting on the computer all day.
Accusations like these really tick me off because they’re not at all true. As someone who is part of an organization that is constantly a target for harsh criticisms and hate, it’s difficult being held up to an impossible standard that no human being could achieve. ASB Leadership and Yearbook are student-run organizations, and we’re constantly learning and trying to improve from our mistakes, and the fact that we are doing our best and are still blamed for mistakes beyond our control is disappointing.
We want to make high school the best years of your lives, and if anyone disagrees with anything that we do, our doors are open for suggestions and improvements. We are not targets for people to dump all the blame on because they didn’t have a fun time or we made a small mistake that was beyond our control. None of the groups on campus deserve this hate and unless everyone who has said a bad thing steps into our shoes and sees how we run our lives, I hope everyone learns to appreciate each event and production during the year.
Senior Cindy Quach
ASB Vice President