Speak (pgs 1-40)

Summary
The first section of this book is pretty interesting. A Girl named Melinda Sordino who is starting her first yea of high school. It kind of reminds me how i felt when I was a freshmen except I had at least one close friend at the beginning of the year. She doesn't have anyone she can really talk to. She does meet a girl named Heather who she sort of befriends but she doesn't really listen to her. They don't really have anything in common, they're complete opposites really. Another difference in our freshmen year experiences is that I went to a completely new school with completely new people, she's known the people at her high school for nine years. Something happened at a party she went to over the summer that caused her to call the cops so everyone hates for it. They torment her in the hallways and shun her when she attempts to reach out to them. Even all of her old friends don't want anything to do with her. I'm curious to fin out what event caused such a dramatic change in her life.

Quote
" THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL: 1. We are here to help you. 2. You will have enough time to get to your class before the bell rings. 3. The dress code will be enforced. 4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds. 5. Our football team will win the championship this year. 6. We expect more of you here. 7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen. 8. Your schedule was created with your needs in mind. 9. Your locker combination is private. 10. These will be the years you look back on fondly."

Reaction
This quote really stood out to me because most if not all of it is true. All of the time you'll hear that teachers are here to help you but not many students feel like that is true. They're is barely enough time to get to certain classes even if you don't stop at your locker. The dress code seems to only be enforced during the warmer months since the school feels like that's when students will try and defy it most. They say smoking isn't allowed on school grounds but we all know a few who've done it. They always say the school is going to win the championships but i haven't heard that we have yet. Certain classes expect more of you but there are those few classes, like language, where the teacher doesn't really expect to get a lot out of you. Sure the guidance counselors are always there to meet with you, but are they there because they want to listen or are they just doing their jobs. Our schedules , we don't have much of a say in those. Your locker combination is private unless you tell someone. Last but not least, for some of us these will be the best years of our lives. This is kind of disappointing because we're not really getting to live. We have a repetitive schedule that involves eating, sleeping, learning, and working. We follow this schedule for six out of the seven days of the week and on holidays we are forced to balance homework, projects and spending time with our families.  I really liked this quote because of how much I could relate to it and how much it made me think of my experiences during my freshmen year and my experiences so far this year. I guess only good literature has the power to do something like that.