One of the most boring nights in my life

Last night was West Carteret High School's award night. So, at 7pm my parents, my sister, and I dressed in our Sunday best made our way into the crowded auditorium. Two hours later, they had just finished giving out awards and recognition for scholarship winners, only recognizing 30 people out of the entire 230 graduating seniors. But then again, those same 30 people (well, maybe 5 of them) were called to the stage enough times to have taken permanent residence there. I must congratulate them though, they only passed over Rebecca once when they neglected to mention the scholarship she won from Carteret-Craven Electric Co-op. After they announced all of the scholarships, they went on to give out awards for an hour and a half. Each award was given to a new face, so I can't fault the guidance department for picking favorites for the awards. And Rebecca was only passed-over once more, when they neglected to award her the 4-year highest average in Spanish award. The winner didn't even have four years of Spanish, and Rebecca could be certain because there were only two people in the AP (advanced placement) Spanish class offered as the only Spanish class beyond Spanish III that year(Rebecca was one of them, and the award winner wasn't). We discussed this over dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. I know Rebecca doesn't like her guidance counselor, or the entire guidance department, and I felt that that was all the more reason for her to very kindly inquire as to how the award winner acquired her fourth year of Spanish. Rebecca was adamant that it didn't matter, and I could also agree with her there - I know I was happy enough to get out of that pit. But Mom was adamant that Rebecca should say something - that it was the principle of the thing. It's obvious enough that the school chooses favorites for a lot of things, including who they decide should be encouraged toward applying for certain scholarships and who they felt should not be encouraged. It's that whole capitalist air that makes me sick half the time. "The Prophet exists to sell itself, you silly girl." West Carteret exists to promote itself, and it does that by selecting the top few people who they feel are most likely to bring them fame and recognition and shamelessly pushing them toward awards and scholarships while ignoring the less potential of the student body. But I remember how I felt passed-over when I was there, and I remember how reluctant I was to make a ripple. I can certainly understand how Rebecca should be reluctant to do so as well. But it still makes me sick, and it makes me mad that it happened to my little sister. I just hope the school was coordinated enough today to have two AP Spanish exams ready for Rebecca and her classmate to take today. Then again, the school didn't know it had two students taking AP Spanish (it's a distance ed. class through Chapel Hill HS). The school also didn't know that those students would need certain supplies, for instance: a text book. They also didn't know that the class was a year long course. So, it will surprise me if they are prepared to give out the two AP Spanish exams today.