The vast majority of you are aware of where I attend high school. (If you weren't aware, it's called the Caldwell Career Center Middle College, and it lies in the above building.)
Last week, after first period, I was on my way to Spanish after taking the long way around from downstairs to walk with Tayler. I was about to enter the building when Sydney called to me from behind and I turned around to face her.
"You're on the Twitter thing, did you see?"
I had no clue what she was talking about, but I took her phone when she handed it to me, and I looked down at the screen, where Twitter was pulled up. The username was "@CCCMC_Truth" and I had been mentioned in a Tweet that read, "@Castle_Fanatic's hair is on point! Love the haircut beautiful! #cccmctruth"
I had heard about the "Dis List" twitter pages that had popped up around the county's district high schools, and even heard some murmurings of starting one of the Twitter pages intended for derogatory comments at my school. But instead of a mean, hateful list of comments aimed at specific students, my high school rose up and created a page for complimenting the students, run by two anonymous members of our student body. Word about CCCMC Truth spread quickly-by lunchtime, everyone knew about the page and speculation about whom had started it was rampant. Everyone had an opinion about who was behind the page, and Tweets from the user were surfacing at a rapid rate, nice comments aimed at at specific students. Here are some examples.
"@sammy_denise_9 is a really pretty woman. She is very smart as well. I am glad to be in school with her."
"@matryoshka_sey believe me when I say, you are adorable! Your attitude is amazing! Love you darling!"
@_senoritasmith your teaching technique is amazing! Keep it up!"
"The sarcasm of @TehemHolton is the best thing ever!"
"#cccmctruth Mrs.Johnson is an all-around wonderful and outstanding person, she is looking out for everyone. Sending so much love to her."
"#cccmctruth Besides having the best dirty and Star Wars jokes, George Hickein is a really awesome friend."
"If you haven't heard Nick Grozier sing, you haven't lived. He sounds like an angel...sorta."
As the school found itself swept up by the kindness and care of some anonymous members of our number, I found myself sitting back in reflection on the whole situation. While everyone was desperate to know who it was, and people were being "accused" left and right (myself included), it occured to me that this event was probably one of the best representations of the good in people. Teenagers are infamous for being cruel beings, and high school is known as a battlefield. I do admit, my situation at CCCMC is a little different because we are all hand picked for being the brightest of our age. Even so, there's still an element of teenage angst and the troubles that plague all teens. We aren't exempt from that, and are often judgmental, petty, hateful, mean, and self-entitled. We are materialistic and we are angry. We laugh at the expense of others and poke fun at our peers far more often than we should. We are selfish and we allow ourselves to be so absorbed in what we want that we often don't notice the needs of those around us.
But, amongst all of the worldly temptations and opportunities that the 21st-century world provides for bullying, two anonymous students at CCCMC rose above the norm. In complimenting people instead of tearing them down, bringing up the spirits of people without claiming credit for themselves, the entire school was abuzz with the hot topic of the day, and these two people were hidden somewhere in the crowd, among the people whose day's they had brightened. The fact that, in this selfish world, they refused to reveal themselves and didn't want the credit for their admirable actions.
That, to me, is the highlight of humanity, for teenagers to overcome the prerequisite of being cruel and harmful people, in favor of being genuinely kind to others.
Always, Cassie
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