Rules, rules, and more rules

There is no turning back now. Like a spaceship and an asteroid on a collision course, time is slipping before we make the inevitable contact. Will we scrape by? Will I survive the encounter? How bad will it really be? The questions pervade my head as the distance between us closes in the hallway. It is just me and her, feeble spaceship versus massive asteroid. I avert my eyesight, hoping, praying she just says, "Good Morning," and continues her inquisition elsewhere. The hallway feels eternally long. The angst is unbearable.

Spaceship to mission control. Collision unavoidable. Danger 10 feet and closing. Contact to be made in T-minus 3--2--1--

"Alex, did you forget to shave this morning? Yesterday? THIS WEEK?! You look like a bum, shave that scruff off of your face tonight, and those sideburns need not exceed the earlobe. How many times, Alex, how many times do I have to tell you? Oh, and are those crew socks or ankle socks? They need to cover the ankle, Alex. See you tommorow."

Spaceship to mission control. Collision unavoided. Ship destroyed. Zero survivors.

During my four years of high school at a private college preparatory school, every inch of our dress and appearance was scrutinized by the faculty to be in strict adherance to the dress code. In addition to the demands of wearing the school uniform with aestethic perfection, things like hair length, jewelry, facial hair, and sock length were also picked apart by the faculty. The school uniform consisted of a polo shirt, khaki shorts, and sneakers in the warmer months and an oxford, tie, and khakis in the wintertime. The uniform wasn't so bad, it was the faculty's scrutiny that really hurt.

"Tuck that shirt in. Don't sag. Is your top button buttoned? Fix your tie."

It was rather stifling. The uniform rules were just the tip of the iceberg, though. Overall individuality and personality were not supported in my school. There were so many rules that it was hard to breathe. I don't remember a day in high school that I didn't do something that was against the rules, frowned upon, or just plain wrong.

If I could change one thing about high school, it would be the insane amount of rules that were placed on me throughout the four years at a private school. Rules like the ones I experienced are stifling, controlling, frustrating, and overall, gave me an askewed view on education. Extreme rules implemented by schools can have a negative effect on impressionable youth. Sometimes, there is no freedom. I encourage free-thought, creativity, individuality, happiness. School doesn't have to be a nightmare. Let us breath. Let us fly.