Memoirs of an Outstanding* Teen

Chapter 44: Too Desperate for The Last Laugh?

I think the purpose was to build some team spirit that would "help us get through Grade 12 with togetherness," or some other bombastic thing like that. But every year, the Grade 11s would have a day of fun and sports together just as the year is about to end. Our first task as new prefects was to organize the Grade 11 day. The plan was for us to show that not only are we qualified for the job, but we're also willing to work cohesively as a team. But you can't show something you don't have, right? Let's just say, showing the teamwork part, was a little bit difficult for the prefects.

I've reflected on the whole incident for a while, and I've concluded that this one dude was just too sour about not getting the head boy or the deputy head boy title. That's why he acted like that.

So we had decided, together as prefects, that for our day, we would hand out sandwiches to everybody, then set up some volleyball nets and spend the rest of the afternoon playing. One of the boys, let's call him Henry, said, "Everybody should just make up their own team and play."

But then later, my loner's instinct told me, this might end up being a little bit disorganized. They might be people who don't have enough friends to make a team, and there might be people who are left out because nobody chose them to be in their team.

I went up to my immediate superior, the head girl, told her my concern and suggested, "Why don't we put them in teams, at semi-random. That way we make sure everybody will have somebody to play with. I can arrange the teams." She agreed, thought it was a decent idea, but suggested I should let her confirm with our supervising teacher. She came back to me and said the teacher agreed. It was the only way to make sure there will be order. We put them in teams and they play against each other till a winner is found. Good idea. I asked a couple of prefects that I came across during the rest of the day. They also gave the green light.

At the end of the day, I ran across Henry and told him about the progress of things and he, immediately and without hearing my reasons, shot me down and said, "No, we should let them make their own teams. Don't put them in teams." And he added something to the about treating them like adults, but I had already stopped listening. I just nodded to whatever he said, and let him walk away. I was hurt. I had collected all the class lists and I was looking forward to contributing something significant to the whole planning process. Now he was...

"But the teacher said I should make the teams. And the head girl, and the other prefects..."

I am stubborn sometimes. A strength or a weakness? Debatable. But that afternoon, I decided I was going to arrange the teams anyway, throw Henry's words to the wind and do what I want. So, I spent a good three hours, going through all the class lists, trying to remember faces I had seen together at break time, and strategically putting everybody in a team with at least one other person that they might be friends with. My whole afternoon consisted of writing up a team, crossing out names which I thought would be better on other lists and drawing arrows to where I thought they would fit better, reading everything again, and repeating the process. Eventually, I had put all 120+ Grade 11 learners into teams.

I was proud of my efforts. I had made some decent teams, a productive afternoon. And I imagine if anyone was to write a book about me, they would at that moment, write "She looked at the team lists and thought it was good."

I left for school much earlier the next day, so I could have time to get the team lists copied and handed out. I was excited and nervous for everyone to read the lists, "They would realize I know them so much! I hope they like their teams."

When the bell rang, I excused myself from my own register class and skipped off to hand out my masterpieces to all the other Grade 11 register classes.