Refuse to be labeled!

February 17, 2022

Brisbane, Australia. Girls Boarding School. Year 12 class presentations.

There’s that girl again, something quite alluring about her. Perhaps OCD, she always sits the fourth row back, furthest left. Hiding behind thick brown curls and green glasses. Leaning into her fisted hand. School’s barely been back a week and already slogged with a presentation piece. How this will aid our future I do not know or care. With the pandemic on the loose, the only preparation we can manage is keeping things unstructured.

She still hasn’t moved. Maybe she’ll volunteer. I wonder what her topic will be. Perhaps I should ask her, see if it calms her. Maybe she’ll get riled up.

Slam! The wind caressed the door peeling it from its stopper. That would mark 9:45 am. An irritable clicking sounded. Either ‘Timmy Terrors’ was smacking that pen back and forth or Ms Wilkins was about to arrive. She squeezes inside, late as usual. Life lesson two. School teaches us to be late.

“Good morning, Year Twelves. Who is excited? What a fantastic day for these presentations. I have a dream! To get through all presentations before lunch! Who wants to go first?”

Without a doubt, the girl four rows back to the left raised her hand.

“Very well Eden. Commence.”

Her thick brown curls bounced while papers rustled in her arms. A few slips fell, unnoticed by her. In front of the podium, the rustling continued and followed with a sharp sigh. The lights dimmed.

“Good morning, Student Body, Teachers, Officials. Scrapping into the second week of Term assigned with a presentation, like Martin Luther King Jr on the 28th of August 1963. He had a dream. He was a visionary. He was one man. His idea resonated with over 200,000 citizens. It wasn’t that he should be an icon, rather the purpose he set forth. I am a nobody. I attend a prestigious school in Brisbane, far more blessed than my counterparts in Africa. I have many dreams, yet only one I strive towards.

Did you hear me? I attend a prestigious school. What defines this school as better than those in other parts of Brisbane, or greater South-East Queensland, or across the nation? What aspect of me should be permitted in this school? What part of me promotes prestigious outcomes? Shall I land top marks and be awarded the DUX, gain my honours degree, go further into research, and become a PhD in the field? Why can there be only one DUX? What if I venture another path and become a surgeon? Is that made possible because of this prestigious school? Why is it improbable for my year grade to achieve the same path? Or what if a school from the disadvantaged aspects of Brisbane included someone like me, would she become a doctor or a researcher? I dare bet her school wouldn’t promote her to become the best she could be.

My dream is for uncategorization. I am seventeen and therefore must be in school preparing for my examinations to prove myself in a number category to gain access to the next best things. Shall I get a tattoo with a number to help the system recognize me? But to what point? Tell me I can do anything with my life, yet how can it be so if these number systems stand in the way? Regrettably, I believe the education system requires serious reform.

Has anyone heard of the education model in South Korea? If so, it’s highly probably you are aware of the educative system in Finland. The country has world-renowned concepts regarding education. Just listen to this statement made by the Ministry of Education Sector.”

“Education is one of the cornerstones of the Finnish welfare society. We pride ourselves on an educational system that offers equal opportunities for education for all. Education from pre-primary to higher education is free of charge in Finland. Finnish teachers are highly educated and strongly committed to their work.”

“To summarise in case you missed those key concepts. Education, welfare society, pride, equal opportunity, highly educated, commitment. Equal opportunity. I question this. A word is so easily thrown about society, not just the Australian society, international society! Striving for equal opportunities clearly sets apart the scrutiny and injustice of categorisation. Why must we be categorised?

From economic split with Marxism, incorporating the upper, middle, and lower classes. A fall out in welfare systems. Did you know here in Australia one in six school-aged children faces poverty? Yet here I am to boast of my prestigious school. This is wrong!

I have a dream, and if by now it isn’t happening then please fellow students record what I say. Post it to social media. Reform must be pushed!

I will graduate and proceed to academia. Going through the loops of higher education in research to prove these points further. Comparing the results to the international system - a reform will be required! We need to promote the best future for those in the grades behind us. For those who are unborn yet!

I am not standing before you today revealing solely my agenda for this year. Rather I stand before you to acknowledge your pain, your situation, and your labels. We can stand against these practices. We can unite. Not as a collective that scares the government. Not to overthrow or be crowned as rulers. Not to take the monetary bargaining as means to silence us. But stand as the unique individuals we are. No one else can do the part you were called to do! Please do your part and let’s break the conventions causing categorisation! Refuse to be labeled! Let us stand together, beautifully unique, unafraid. REFUSE TO BE LABELED!”

Tears roll down Eden’s face. In haste, she shuffles her feet to drop the papers to Ms. Wilkins before taking her seat. Lights still dimmed yet other students with mouths ajar. Speechlessness cleared the room. Quiet sobs from Eden. Even Ms Wilkins, for once, lost for words. Reserved Eden just became powerful Eden. When lunch rolls in, I want to befriend her.