Arbeit Macht Frei

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for any offence caused by the title of this post. It hasn't been meant in an offensive way or as a reminder of the past, but as a way to grab attention and make a point. Last Wednesday was my last proper day of school at Owen's and this phrase (translstion: work makes freedom, originally written above the gates of Auschwitz) will be one of my overriding memories of the day. So I suppose today's pondering is why some people have to spoil things.

Our last day at school, traditionally known as Muck-Up Day, is always a bit of a joke. We are expected to come in early and decorate the school based on our theme, which we choose, and also dress up accordingly. Our chosen theme was "Neverland", as in Peter Pan, and about seventy of us had agreed with the Head that we would come in at 6:30 and make the school lunch hall into a pirate ship, complete with statue of Captain Dame Alice Hook*. It was an absolute masterpiece and everyone who was involved was really proud. (At this point I'd also like to thank and congratulate Joanna and Aisha on their amazing organisation of the whole thing.)

However, when we went to look at the rest of the school, we got a shock.

The front of the school looked great; Nicole has decorated her car to look like an island and there were big banners saying "Welcome to Neverland" and "Never Grown Up Since 2006". That was really good. But the further into the school you got, there worse it got. Classic pranks, such as buttered door handles and handrails were there but there was also writing on all the walls. Some of it was almost funny but some of it, like the Nazi slogans, Swastikas and some incredibly rude messages about teachers and one about one person in our year, were just completely unacceptable. There's no need for that sort of reaction to seven years of excellent education.

Later we heard that half the year had been in since 4am and had drunk considerably beforehand, leading to the ridiculous actions we witnessed. I would like to stress to any teachers that have wandered onto this blog that it wasn't all of us acting like this and that those of us who weren't involved are very sorry it happened. And in future, you might like to know that butter works very well at getting chalk off of walls. Butter, water and bare hands.

This isn't my only memory of that last day; the Assembly we had was very nice, with messages from the teachers and the award ceremony (Best Accessories!) It was all very touching and I cried a lot (and not just for the injustice against the teachers.) And after a disappointing 'social' at Old Owen's, a group of us went to one of Potters Bar's many pubs and had a lovely chat, which was nice. And of course, I have the memory of Jason's face when I turned up for my lesson with a bright green face... (I was a crocodile!)

*Our school has a statue of Dame Alice Owen, the foundress, in the lunch hall. She is traditionally dressed up for Muck-Up Day. In previous years, she has looked lovely in tin foil, bikinis and bubblewrap.

A Couple Of Thoughts

• Students would probably concerntrate better outside at this time of year
• ... Unless they were out by the lake and there were ducks wandering around
• Why does Mr Archer like pizza so much?
• "Manic Panic" is a much better band name than "Jumbo Jumble"
• "Jumbo Jumble" is really difficult to say, even in your head
• Green is a calming colour because it reminds us of springtime and nature and peace
• I have no idea why some people think it's unlucky to wear green, but some think it's lucky
• Why do I wear long sleeves if I spend the entire day rolling them up?
• "Jumbo Jumble" sounds like a kids' game, in which you have to untangle elephants
• Stanley has pen on the back of his neck
• ... And his ear
• People's clothing colour changes based on the weather
• English people are very silly inasmuch as they don't learn other languages
• ^^ This is probably due to the Americans
• How did Actual Advice Mallard become a thing?

Exams (Yes, it's that time again...)

Dust off the revision guides and get out those massive (and incredibly cool now that hipsters are a thing)  reading glasses, it's revision time again! Yes, the time of year where we ponder the previously pondered is upon us. We all know what this means; it means that we should've all been relearning what we've already learnt before we've even learnt it since about February, because otherwise WE WILL ALL FAIL AND NOBODY WILL EVER LOVE US EVER AGAIN!!!!!

Just me? Oh, OK then :)

For myself and my peers, this year holds a much greater threat than any other previous year. As Nicole said in RS the other day: "Before, if we did badly, we could just resit. Our pride would be hurt, but that's about all. Now, if we do badly, we don't get into university and the rest of our lives are ruined." Ok, so I don't agree with the ruined lives bit, but this is effectively true. Whilst there are some universities (apparently St Andrews is one of these) which prefer to offer places to people who have already secured their grades and have gained a little life experience, the fact that one is required to retake some A Levels does not sit well with many places of study. Plus, as my Dad points out on every available occaison "taking a gap year and traveling the world is one less year in which you could be earning." Unless you work through your accidental gap year (yay), but then again, who would want to employ someone who doesn't even have A Levels (or at least good A Levels) in this day and age?

Grade inflation has a lot to answer for.

Plus, if you do get a job during your gap year, it can only really be part time because, of course, you have to revise for those fabulous exams again. And this time is even more serious because there's no way you'd be considered for anything if you had to redo your A Levels twice.

Or maybe none of this is really a possibility and I'm just panicking because at my school we're all expected to be able to recite Pi to several thousand digits by the end of year seven.

Spider, Spider

Spider, spider on the wall
Please be careful you don't fall
Don't you know that wall's been plastered?
Get down, you naughty little... spider!


(Used with [no] kind permission from my Dad - thanks Dad!)

The Royal Albert Hall

Those of you who attend (or probably who have ever attended) Owen's, my school, will know that Tuesday night was the huge accumulation of this year's celebration of four hundred years of the school with the concert at the Royal Albert Hall. So of course, I am pondering that.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to go on and on about how amazing it was to be able to play/sing on such a famous stage in front of so many people, and how fantastic it was being in the Soul Band, who got the biggest cheer of the night by quite a long way. And fret not, for I don't plan to talk extensively about the school because it's quite boring. Except the balloons, that bit was cool.

What I really want to talk about is the amazing comradery which I felt between the old and "new" (I guess) Owenians last night and how amazing the atmostphere was backstage. Despite the enormous overheating in the Concert Band girls' dressing room and the constant feeling of being underground (sort of in a Churchill's-war-bunker-esque way), the morale backstage was kept really high throughout the day and practically everyone was amazingly nice. I have to make a special mention here of Ben, Ashely and George's impromtu marching band, who performed "Teddy Bear's Picnic" and "Tequila" on loop for about an hour. Really kept people smiling, guys. :)

The Old Owenians, in my experience at least, struck up a fantastic relationship with the current students. Leo, who had been roped in to play the bari sax alongside me all night was really great; he was evidently a much better player than I am (being a professional and all), but he still treated me like an equal and talked to me more in two days than the entire Soul Band did for the whole of last year.

As for the School Song at the end, well that was just beyond words. But you know me, I'll try anyway. Despite not having any music, I was on stage for the School Song; the excitement in the orchestra was massive and I think that everyone in the hall felt the same. When the brass section stood up with their hands on their hearts for the chorus, we were all in stitches. Only Seb could get away with leading something like that and live. Well, Seb and Peter...

Anyway, as Dr D said last night, Happy Birthday Owen's. And thanks everyone, for such a memorable evening.

A Quick Thought On Margaret Thatcher

If Margaret Thatcher had been a man, people would have been much more supportive of her work.

Obviously, I am not saying that everything she did was perfect (she ruined education and declared a war we probably didn't need to fight, but do we ever need to fight any war?) and I don't claim to know all about 1980s politics, in the same way I don't really know about modern politics.

My point is just that a lot of things that Maggie did which were right, or at least for the right reasons, were understated. Had she been a man, they would've been more highly regarded, a bit more like Winston Churchill is. I mean, he made some mistakes (quite a lot, if you look at it) but also did some things right and we remember him as one of the greatest political figures of our history. Well, a lot of people do at least.

Don't worry friends, I've not gone completely off my rocker, I still disagree with everything that the Tories do/say and, when the revolution finally comes, I'll be close behind Miss MacNeill in the line for the Tory Fox Hunt.

What my point is here, really, is that sexism is still rampant in our society; even at the highest level when a strong, independent woman manages to defeat all the chauvinistic men around her and actually ends up running the country. And, had Margaret Thatcher been a man, people would be more supportive of the good she did and more willing to overlook the lesser of the evil things she did.

Rest in Peace Maggie.

And I apologise for sounding so much like Miss MacNeill in this blog post (except that I'm pretty sure she'd never say anything positive about Mrs Thatcher.)

Things I Just Don't Understand

Today I am pondering the un-understandable. This won't be a particularly long post because I don't want to steal the limelight from Herries, a guy I know (who I would call a friend, but might not extend me the same privilege) who writes a blog specifically on his topic. (You can find it at http://thingsthatijustdontunderstand.blogspot.com )

I am pondering his for the simple reason that it is the thing I spend the longest time thinking about when I should be doing other things, such as working or driving. For me, the main thing I don't understand is Chemistry, but that's boring, so we'll look at the second biggest thing I don't understand,which is how one person can be in love with another if they do not love them back.

This may seem a strange thing for an eighteen year old to ponder; people will be thinking "she doesn't know what she's on about, she's only young", but I don't mean me. I don't understand how someone can be in a position in a relationship where they are totally devoted (Grease reference not intended) to another person, only to find out that the other person doesn't love them at all, and may even be in another relationship behind their back.

I should point out that I do not have a specific example in mind here, I am thinking more generally about the way society is going and (to be honest) several chick flick story lines. The fact that you may have assumed I was talking about a particular example says more about the way you think of me than anything else.

The other thing I don't understand in that situation is how someone can think they're in love when they aren't; the idea of love consists of two people who are meant to be together, traditionally they're considered two parts of the same soul, but that idea is a bit outdated. How can it be, then, that one person can feel something that they think is love, but is not reciprocated by the person they have these feelings towards? Especially if the person has never experienced actual love. How on Earth is the human brain capable of making this sort of thing up with no previous experience.
This really is what I don't understand.

And it's what makes me think that souls exist.

Anyway, that's it really :) There are so many other things I don't understand, but I'll leave that to Herries because I've broken my keyboard.

If you wanted something interesting to read while I don't write for you (wow, fabulous English there, brain!) please check out 28 Dates Later - it's written by a guy called Willard who is trying to do twenty eight dates from dating sites without getting himself killed or further wounded in the process. He sounds like he could get on well with Mackers, to be perfectly honest...
Other blogs you could check out are Herries', as mentioned above, Mr Robinson's (one of my German teachers last year, he does an amazing linguistics blog) and Alice's literary blog, which I've mentioned on many-an-occasion :)