Detention

My second year into the boarding school life I had to participate in mandatory weekend activities organized by teachers on duty. That weekend activity was hiking followed by aqua park. Hiking is not my cup of tea and my insecurities of being slightly overweight have taken the best of me, when it came to being in a bikini in front of others. Yet what is there to do?

The trip was supposed to be overnight, and it would be in a beautiful setting by the waterfalls. The walk was more pleasant than expected, and when we reached the waterfalls, there was not a single worry in my head. Being out in the nature felt refreshing, letting the forest take in all the stress and release the positive energies. Over the dinner by the fire, we shared stories of all sorts.

The next day, we woke up early and got ready to be driven to the aqua park. I had asked the teacher on duty if I could stay clothed and just take a coke inside the park, and wait for them quietly on my own. The teacher was fine with that as long, as I stayed inside the building. Another person in the group did not feel like slides, so asked to join me in drinking soft drinks inside. Yet, she was a smoker – so she absolutely needed to be outside. My heart jumped out of my body, when the teacher has spotted us outside and started knocking on the glass door to get our attention. The teacher was angry, to be fair we were outside, and also she broke the rules by smoking, and therefore, we clearly deserved a detention.

That day, I got my first and almost only detention. The punishment was to wash all the kitchenware we took with us to the hike and to write a report on the way we spent our weekend. This was also the first time that I realized that while we were two to commit a school crime, only one of served it; and I did not even smoke. The burden of the corrective action fell heavily on my shoulders, yet I have completed by task as the fear of being suspended or worse yet expelled was worse than anything to me. I could not let my parents down.

In my life, I got one other detention for being late to the study time, which was dedicated to completion homework. Safe to say, I have survived both detentions and leant my lessons.