The Dread of Going Back to School

Everyone has had that moment of realization that goes like "Oh, crap! I have to go back to school tomorrow!"  This moment is especially disappointing after a relaxing weekend.  This weekend, for example, was decent.  I caught up on one of my favorite shows, "The Walking Dead", ate delicious food for Thanksgiving, went shopping briefly on Black Friday, and slept in.  It was so wonderful! After a nice five-day weekend of no school, I was so disappointed to realize that I had to go back to school tomorrow.  This moment is the worst part of the weekend and happens to everyone.  No one likes waking up early in the morning, doing work that gives you a headache, dealing with irritating people, or sitting through fifty minutes of teachers droning about things that you really could care less about.  You basically sit there waiting for the bell to ring to let you know that you can go home.  You then get through school by looking forward to the upcoming weekend, just so that the whole process can repeat.  The feeling that you get when you realize all of this is going to keep happening is agonizing, at least for me.  Most of the time, I only get one day's worth of a weekend because on Sunday I have to go to church.  It's like tasting freedom just to have it snatched away from you over and over again.  It's actually kind of cruel when you think about it.  This cycle is something that we all have to endure every week. 

Driver's Ed

After waiting for so long to take driver's ed, the time finally came.  When I was finished, I thought only one thing:  Thank you, God, that it's over.  I hated it.  I think that it would have been better if I had an instructor that was more likable.  I liked the girl that I took driver's ed with because she was nice and didn't like the instructor either.  Knowing my luck, it didn't surprise me that I ended up with an annoying instructor.  When people who they're instructors were, they didn't name the person that I had.  This probably explains why their experiences weren't as bad as mine.  Because I'm not supposed to list specific names, I'm going to call this instructor "Saul" and the girl that I drove with "Tina."  I didn't like Saul because he couldn't make up his mind, he was NOT patient, and he was extremely rude.

Saul could not make up his mind to save his life.  For example, when I was driving, Saul would say, "Turn left...no, turn right because it's better...no, go ahead and turn left."  Before I did anything, I would ask, "Is that your final answer?"  He would either go with his last statement or choose something else.  This happened more than once and not with just me.  Saul did it with Tina too and I could see that it was getting to her.  One day, when Saul went into a gas station to get a drink, Tina voiced all of the complaints buzzing around in my head.  It was such a relief that she was thinking the same thing.

Saul also was NOT patient at all.  His impatience at first made me nervous and tense.  On the first day, I was already nervous enough.  Try to picture a girl that is nervous for her first day of driver's ed.  It's easy enough.  Now, try to picture a balding man with a nasally voice yelling 'what are you doing' and giving last minute instructions.  Add all of that together and you've got a nervous wreck.  Because of that bad combo, I almost hit the bumper of a car in Wal-Mart's parking lot! 

This person was way too personal.  When I was driving, he would ask if my dad lives around town.  I said that he doesn't.  Saul was all sympathetic and asked, "Is it hard? It's hard isn't it?" I said, "Not really."  That really made me angry.  Saul did something like that with Tina too.  He asked her, "Is your dad still in prison?" My mouth then dropped open.  Tina said, "Yeah, we just went to see him the other day."  When we dropped her off at her house, he started explaining her situation to me.  He explained who her dad was and why he was in prison.  That whole situation made me angry and made me wonder why he would try to embarrass someone by sharing that kind of personal information.

Honestly, no one can even begin to know how relieved I am that I don't have to see Saul anymore.  I feel bad for Tina though because he works at the school that she goes to.  I guess this is a lesson that everyone can't be courteous.

Music Response to "The Show Goes On"

This is a response to Lupe Fiasco's song, "The Show Goes On."  In this song, he talks about how he doesn't give people the satisfaction when they try to get in his head.  Fiasco sends a message to the kids in the ghetto, saying that they need to keep their heads up when hard times come their way.  He says that the world is theirs because he used to be like them and he became successful.  Fiasco says that whatever you are going through, you should keep your head up to let people know that you aren't going to give up.  He portrays that you should remember that life goes on.

I think that Lupe Fiasco wrote this song to send a message to people that are going through hardships, saying, that you shouldn't give up.  He wants people to know that even though it may seem like you won't get through your hard time, life will go on.  This artist succeeds in portraying the feeling that no one is alone because he said that he was in the same place.  It makes the listener feel empowered knowing this.  Lupe Fiasco uses rhyme and imagery.  He uses rhyme to make the words flow and imagery to make the listener picture what he is saying.  An example of the imagery that he uses is the line about slaves.  "They treat you like a slave, Put chains all on your soul and put whips up on your back" - This allows the reader to picture and relate to the pain portrayed in the words. 

Lupe Fiasco is critiquing the fact that so many people will try to bring you down when you're doing well.  He mentions this several times throughout the song.  Fiasco says that when people try to bring you down, you should shake it off and not worry about it.  This is a great song because it gives people something to relate to.  This song makes people feel as if they aren't alone and gives them confidence that they will get through whatever hard time that is happening.