Saydie+G's+OpEd+Article

=Stuck Like Glue.=

By Saydie Grewe


media type="file" key="saydieg-muckraker-2011.mp3" align="center" You know what? I’m sick and tired of it all. Ventura, that is. I feel like I’m stuck in quicksand. Or superglue. Or flypaper. With every year wasted in this death trap, a part of my soul seems to wither away a little bit. So basically, I need an escape from this tedious routine. Pronto.

Reason numero uno: high school is not my cup of tea. I love Foothill and all, but I grow weary of the immaturity, callow drama and naïveté that meander through the halls. Furthermore, I do not enjoy environments in which success and worth are measured based on how accurately you can fill in bubbles or graph polynomial functions. That's not really my forte.

Also, like any contumacious teenager, I yearn for independence. Primarily, independence from my familia, who, apart from my brother, do not give me much more than a second glance. I got a 94% on that physio test that everyone failed today. “oh, you must be proud.” Thanks, Mother, I am proud, but you’re not. I can list off a plethora of accomplishments, but they make it quite apparent that they’d rather discuss the joys of my spoiled and obnoxious 6-year-old sister who, by the way, can barely count to 10, let alone write her freakin’ name. Nor do I care to affiliate with my hypocritical father, who treats me like I’m 10, and refuses to discuss anything of substance at the dinner table because I am supposedly a child, and not to be taken seriously. And let’s not get started on his endless crusade to make me go to Catholic Church. Or how he furiously accuses me of dating every guy I hang out with. Good joke. Pure and simple, I do not enjoy living with these ridiculous people, and once I leave I won’t have to.

Anyways, I want to go to college already. I’m eagerly anticipating the refreshing new beginning somewhere far away, the anonymity and endless possibilities when nobody has any expectations. There’s another qualm: the onerous burden of expectations that plague me here. Every high GPA I get just turns into a set standard I have to do again. Every race I run is a new time to break. And with each insouciant statement of an opinion, conclusions are jumped to and judgments made.

Ventura is a shallow place. Foothill doesn’t have it that bad, fortunately, but it’s pretty apparent from the time I’ve spent at VHS and around town. I’m sick of the condescending glances, the prejudiced comments haunting the hallways, the hordes of guys that “want one thing” and the partiers who plan to do nothing with their lives but smoke pot, drink beer and cut class.

So, Ciudad de San Buenaventura, it’s been a memorable 17 years, but your ubiquitous sunshine is scalding me and your monotony has me questioning why I do the things I do. It’s high time I found some greener pastures, preferably far north where there are seasons and fresh air. But alas, still a year and a half till I can pack up and take to the road. On the bright side, I’m taking a midnight flight to Costa Rica on Friday, so I’ll have 9 days of sweet freedom before returning to this bottomless tar pit. --- I think I'll go to Boston think I'll start a new life think I'll start it over where no one knows my name I'll get out of California I'm tired of the weather I think I'll get a lover and fly em out to Spain I think I'll go to Boston think that I was tired think I need a new town to leave this all behind I think I need a sunrise I'm tired of the sunsets hear it's nice in the summer some snow would be nice... ^^^my anthem right now.