Not So Failed Experience

According to my Journalism teacher, you want your column to make a difference. So for my column I tried to understand how excluded kids nad students feel. My plan failed completely, but I think I ended up with a decent column.



Not So Failed Experience


We’ve all heard the saying “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”, but how many of us have actually tried to do it? Well I can say from personal experience, that it’s not as easy as you might think.



Originally, for this column I had planned to spend an entire school day in complete isolation. I wanted to compare my experience and my emotions that day with how kids who are excluded on a daily basis feel.



I talked to all my friends and a few of my teachers and they had agreed to ignore me for that day. It was as simple as that.


When “Ignore Jessica Day” came around, everything went without a hitch. My friends refused to talk to me, my teachers never called on me in class, and a deep loneliness filled me. The experience really allowed me to understand what it felt like to be rejected by my classmates.
Well, that was what I had thought would happen. In reality, my plan had failed almost from the very beginning.


When I arrived at school, I was completely ready to endure my day of isolation,


Okay, I thought to myself, don’t talk to anyone for the entire day….oh, except for the question I need to ask Elise about an assignment. Oh, and I need to get my iPod back from Geri, Megan needs help with the chemistry homework, and maybe I can sneak in a word with Casey about the book I’m reading.


With all these thoughts swirling around in my head, it’s no wonder my “fool-proof” plan was destined to fail. Yet still I tried.


My friends talked among themselves and I pretended like I wasn’t listening. I suppressed my frequent urges to speak and gesture to them. Not being able to talk to my friends was extremely difficult for me.


However, when class started, we had to work in pairs, making “Ignore Jessica Day” that much more challenging.


By the time third hour arrived, my day felt just like any other. “Ignore Jessica Day” had crashed and burned.


In fourth hour, I realized something: you can’t know how someone feels, unless you are in the same situation as they are. My fake simulation of ostracism could never evoke the same emotions as real isolation.


It had been extremely hard for me not to talk to my friends, but that was because they were people I frequently talked to. Kids who are excluded and ignored all the time may not have people they talk to a lot. How do they deal with not having someone to share their thoughts with?


Do they have someone to help them with their homework? To discuss a good book with?


At the end of the 2nd semester, students sign each other’s yearbooks.


“Kim, I can’t imagine not having you as a friend. You’re the best! Love you! Love, Sam.”


Who writes in their yearbooks? And if someone does, how do they sign it? Do they write something special or sincere?


I can only guess at the emotions stirring inside of them. Maybe they don’t mind being left out, maybe they hate it. Maybe they don’t even notice that they’re being excluded.
How do we know?


As I said earlier, it’s extremely difficult to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. We all wear different sizes, the shoes might not fit. But who’s to say we can’t reach out and walk the mile alongside them?

The only bad thing about my column is in order to get the message, you have to read the whole thing though. Not all high schoolers have the attention span to do that. But whatever.

My column might not get picked though. My school's newspaper staff (Journalism II kids) pick the two columns. And my column is a lot different than anything they write. They might not like it. Or maybe they'll like it because it's different. Who knows? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I'll let you guys know what happens with it. Let me know what you think.

Peace out,

Jay~Jay