It’s a cold day in December, lucky I’m home all alone, cozy in my pajamas with the heater blasting. My father is on a business trip in California and my mother is at work. I’ve been cutting school a little more than three weeks in my second semester as a freshman at James Madison High School. I was slacking, I was hanging out with the wrong people doing the wrong things. Becuase of that I lost valuable time. So I’m sitting at home playing video games specifically Grand Theft Auto V. My phone lights up. Someone is calling me, I think to myself that’s strange everyone else in school or at work. Who could it be? Turns out it’s my mother calling. I immediately freeze up, I start shivering, it’s like I’m laying out in the snow with no layers on. My heart is beating faster and my blood is rushing through my veins. What would any teenager do when they know their in trouble and don’t want to admit to it? I declined the phone call. But my mother kept calling and calling. Then she texts me saying “jonik pick up the phone right now”. At this point I know I’m in trouble, I know I messed and I’m not ready to face the consquences from both my parents and school. I call my mother back, she’s spitting out a bunch of curse words, yelling, and threatening me. Now I knew I deserved this and I had no lie to save myself now.

My mother comes home from work. She looks dissapointed in me, she’s looking at me like she doesn’t even recognize me. I’m scared for my life right now because I have Ukranian parents and when it comes to doing what your supposed to they don’t mess around. She tells me my guidance counselor Ms.Lau called her and was asking if everything was okay with me. My mother was shocked to recieve this call and her answer to the question was “everything is okay, why”? Ms.Lau revealed that I haven’t been attending for the past three weeks. What’s crazy about all of this is that I was planning to go back to the school the next day and get my work straight. I thought I was going to get several reprecussions from my school let along my parents. My parents were more upset than angry at me, I had a tracking app downloaded on my phone and my mother would be in close contact with my guidance counselor. A meeting was setup with my father and my guidance counselor. My father attended and it went exactly how you would expect. My guidance counselor showed my parents how to use the gradebook app “pupilpath” and also explained the consquences if I were to continue with my negative behavior.

I went back to school the following day. It was a cloudy and cold day. On top of that it was snowing. In order to enter the school you have to swipe in your I.D card. So as soon as I swiped into the school my guidance came and grabbed me to her office. She was very helpful and honestly made me recognize what I did and why it was wrong and a waste of my time. Ms.Lau told me to go to my classes and just say I was on a vacation and she gave me a note to give to my teachers. After meeting with Ms.Lau and having a talk with my parents I learned my lesson. I’ve never cut class after that incident. I learned that the education system wasn’t so harsh and it was really designed to help you succeed. I was slacking, I was hanging out with the wrong people doing the wrong things and becuase of that I lost valuable time.