"So, who here is familiar with Eminem?" Mr. McCain said as he leaned his back against the board with his hands crossed. His question was met by many confused stares as no one understood what this had to do with anything. Mr. McCain had just finished assigning today's homework and had been whining about how the administration was giving him a hard time due to our marks ever since, so the question seemed abrupt.
"We weren't born in the stone-age, Mr. McCain. We all know who Eminem is," Charlotte said with an eye roll. There were murmurs of agreement that followed as well as more eye rolls. The sort of attitude the students had made it hard not to view this as a cliched high school setting running wild with teen angst.
"Well I'm glad you're all familiar with him, this will make the reference much easier." This earned Mr. McCain more confused looks. "The poor stay poor, and the rich get richer; it's just so disproportional." He sung the lyrics with a slight smile.
"Do any of you know what the concept portrayed in those lyrics is called?" He asked. I was well aware that he meant the Matthew Effect, but I only kept my head down and continued to draw at the corner of my notebook. Thomas, who happened to be seated to my left, raised his hand and caused everyone to groan in response. Thomas was really smart, and he was probably the prodigy of the class; however, a lot of the time he simply didn't know how to shut up. Therefore, you can't really blame the rest of us for that reaction.
I only gave Thomas a side glance before reverting my gaze back to the unfinished doodle. I heard Mr. McCain give a sigh as Thomas's hand remained as the only one raised. He ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair with a look of disappointment before a smile made its way to his face - a sight which never meant well.
"Eenie meenie, miny moe," Mr. McCain began in a melodic tone as he pointed his finger at different students. "Ah, Mr. Jackson. Do you mind gracing us with an answer?" The pencil in my hands fell as I heard my name. I lifted my head and looked at him with a look of exasperation, only to find every head turned towards me. The looks of confusion I received made it seem as though they had all forgotten that I existed in the first place.
"Give us a guess at least," he said with what might be considered as a reassuring smile. I did not understand why he had picked me when Thomas was right next to me with a raised hand, not to mention the fact that this question was in no way related to AP English.
I looked at the ground, suddenly finding it fascinating, before saying, "It's the Matthew Effect." My voice was a bit low, but - given the unusual silence - Mr. McCain managed to hear me.
"Exactly," he said with a single clap of his hands. I picked up my pencil and went back to my drawing as soon as all eyes were back on Mr. McCain. "As Sean said, this concept is known as the Matthew Effect. Contrary to common belief, the aspect being talked about isn't actually finance but learning - language learning to be exact. So, in other words, those good at a subject will get better while those bad at it will only get worse.
"This very concept is what our administration refuses to put into consideration. This isn't to say that I don't have faith in you guys - you guys are some of the brightest classes I've ever taught. However, it is not logical for them to expect all students to show constant improvement, right?" Mr. McCain went on, rambling to a class that was slowly and steadily losing interest in the topic.
"Mr. McCain?" Elliot called out. "Are you sure it's a good idea to complain about the school's administration with students?" He asked with a smirk. Mr. McCain showed no concern towards the possibility of getting reported to the administration as he continued to smile without a care.
"Well, technically I'm giving you valuable life lessons concerning why none of you should aspire to become teachers; though if you want to take it in as whining, I guess that is up to you." He said with a laugh. Before Mr. McCain could go on and continue rambling, the bell rang and signaled that another school day was over. Without waiting for any dismissal from Mr. McCain, everyone - including myself - started to pick up their stuff and headed towards the door.
YOU ARE READING
The Obscurity Of Our Possibility
Teen Fiction"I was aware of many things that day, yet I managed to miss all the important things. "I was aware of Shannon's laugh. I was aware of the fact that we probably wouldn't be able to catch the movie Shannon wanted to watch. I was aware of the many res...
