As Valentine’s Day rolls around yet again, I notice a lot of things coming in pairs, whether it be couples walking around campus, key and lock jewelry or even sets of paired stuffed animals to celebrate this lovey-dovey holiday. With the aura of Valentine’s Day all around, I remembered a time in which I was scared of being paired.
It was my freshman year and the class had just finished reading “Romeo and Juliet”. As a creative assignment, my teacher decided we would get into groups and each group would act out a scene before the class. Awesome, I get to group up with my friends, avoid a romantic scene and have fun presenting a fighting scene to the class, right? Wrong. Instead, our groups were decided by pulling numbers out of a hat, and lucky me I got put in a group with three other kids who I never really talked to.
Fortunately, I was in a group with one friend, let’s call her Jill (you’ll understand the need for anonymity later). So everyone was eventually put into their groups, and now you’d assume we get to pick our acts, right? Wrong again. Out of all the parts of the book, my group gets the balcony scene where Romeo and Juliet get all romantic and stuff.
To make matters even worse, yours truly and Jill were chosen to be the fated pair of star-crossed lovers. While I never felt afraid of class presentations or awkward at acting, this was pushing it. For 15 minutes, I had to be head over heels in love with Jill (disclaimer: our relationship was strictly platonic). The scene even had a kiss in it! I was terrified of being paired up with Jill in a romantic manner, even though it was just acting. I shamefully admit that I even asked, maybe even begged, my group members to swap roles with me.
So day after day, presentation after presentation, it was my group’s turn. A whole bunch of lines and even a fake kiss (which I’m cringing at the memory of) later, it was over. As I walked back to my seat, Jill and I made eye contact and we both burst out laughing at what had just happened. The presentation wasn’t anywhere near as scary as I had expected, in fact, I had a lot of fun. That’s when I realized I was scared of nothing, and that my experience getting paired was what I made out of it.
So next time you’re put in pairs, whether it be for a class project or anything else really, don’t spend time whining and trying to avoid it like I did. Instead, make the best out of your situation and just have fun!
TCHS School Newspaper