if only i were a princes..

I WISH I WERE A PRINCESS.

They have the perfect lives, don't they? Their dresses are always gorgeous and one-of-a-kind, their hair is always the perfect style, they never have to do housework, and they always get the prince at the end. From their side of the castle, life is easy, peasy, lemon squeezie. Or is it? They also have to deal with the evil uncle/stepmother, the poisoning, the constant battle for their seat in the kingdom, and the over-protective father. So, which side wins? Is their life considered the perfect fairy-tale that we all dream of having, or is it as brutal and harsh as our everyday reality?

Maybe that’s the problem though, everyone wants that “perfect life.” The life where you have the perfect family, the perfect boyfriend/girlfriend, the perfect clothes, the perfect hair, the perfect EVERYTHING. But what if it’s not so perfect? Everyone has something about his or her life that is annoying to no end. Like the princesses: I will be the first to admit that they seem to have the world’s most perfect lives. Have you seen Jasmine? She has an amazing house/castle, a pet tiger (who doesn’t bite her and is adorable to no end), the cutest little sultan father, and Aladdin as an admirer (who is probably one of the cuter Disney suitors out of the lot). Who wouldn’t want to be her? When I was little, all I dreamed of being was Jasmine: having that gorgeous outfit, with the beautiful room, and the handsome prince. But was it really that perfect? After watching the movie when I was older (as in a couple months ago), I realized something different. The princess’s life really wasn’t as perfect as everyone thought it to be. I mean Jasmine had to deal with Jafar: the sultan’s creepy older brother who was trying to marry her! Talk about the creepy incest. She also had the castle guards constantly following her and making sure she wasn’t talking to anyone that wasn’t “fit” for her. So she was never free to be independent and do what she pleased. So when did we decide that the pros outweighed the cons and Jasmine’s life was the perfect life?

Maybe that’s why our “suits” are all so “fwame wesistant.” If we could wish to have the perfect lives, one day they would turn out to be not so perfect. If I could get rid of certain suits in my life, I certainly wouldn’t be the person I am today: I would make myself have the perfect life, the “princess life.” But there is a reason you can’t custom build your life. What seems right and perfect to you today, may trigger the complete, opposite emotion tomorrow. If Spiderman just “buined” his Spiderman suit and became a “wace car dwiver” wouldn’t he eventually write a poem about how boring it is to be a wace car dwiver having to drive around the same twack over and over and over again?

So we are who we are, we wear the suits that we wear, and we complain about it everyday. But I guess that’s the point of life. If we had a closet full of suits to choose from, we would find something wrong with each and every one of them, even the princess ones. Maybe that’s a good thing, at least the suits we are wearing right now match our tiaras. (569)

haemon vs. creon....students vs. administration?

In Antigone, a rift appears between father and son when the issue of Antigone’s fate is a question. Principle guides Haemon in an argument against his father, Creon, to try and convince him that Antigone deserves to live. He uses logic and reason to convince Creon that despite the fact that Antigone broke the law, she deserves a chance to live as she was only following her beliefs and morals. Creon on the other hand is arguing based solely on his emotions and his stubborn belief that he is right in punishing Antigone because according to him the king is always right and “that’s the law!” (39). However, Haemon tactfully points out Creon’s faults and his “empty, mindless judgments” (39). Although Creon does not change his mind about Antigone’s punishment, Haemon does successfully prove that Creon’s punishment is wrong and unjust.
Similarly, another area where the smaller power has overruled the larger power is right here in our own Phoenix Country Day School. Last year, it was mandatory for all students to say on campus, regardless of what grade they were in, during block 6 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For most seniors this became a punishment as it restricted the amount of time they were allowed to go off campus for lunch. As most students know, you wait four years for the opportunity to go off-campus as a senior and get lunch from a variety of delicious restaurants. However, last year this was unachievable by many seniors. As we are known to speak out against the rules we see unfit, the student body complained to faculty and administration about how this rule was unfair and was not helping anyone. Later in the year, a group of senators that represented the student body met with the administration and they decided that block six office hours would no longer be mandatory to stay on campus. The administration agreed with our logical examples and decided to change the rules and allow seniors to go off campus during those blocks.
This argument, while not the same, parallels the disagreement between Creon and Haemon. While the elder powers had a point (both Creon and the school’s administration), ultimately the logical reasons exemplified by the younger powers (both Haemon and the student body) proved to be right. On one hand, Creon did not learn from his mistakes and it ultimately resulted in a tragic ending, however, the PCDS administration learnt and changed the rules for this 2009-2010 school year (of which the senior class is very grateful)