cct205-narrative


 * Write a brief (2-3 page) personal narrative on a situation where you engaged in tactical responses to strategic power.**

Every student in Ontario is governed by the strategic power of the school board system. There are requirements set in place for an Ontario Grade twelve student to graduate from high school with their Ontario Secondary School Diploma. One has to complete thirty credits, reach the provincial literacy requirement and complete forty hours of community service. Obviously, I didn't have much trouble with that because look at where I stand now. I made it to university, which ultimately means I received my high school diploma. If that was the end of it, my story would be over, right? Well, what appears on paper is only one side of the story; usually the other side is a mixture of deception, deceit, and plain skills.

How exactly did I cheat the system? Well I can honestly say I did not hack into the school computer system to add on a few extra credits. I probably was computer savvy enough to do it though (if people like my guidance councilors knew how, it was probably a no-brainer), but I don't have the guts to pull something like that off. If I got caught, I probably would be suspended or subdued to another high level of punishment. The fear of getting caught was enough for me to cross that idea out of my head. But one thing I could easily fake was the amount of volunteer hours I completed. It was organized in such a way that just needed to be broken.

I don't want to seem like a horrible person, but what is the point in forcing students to learn the value of volunteer work. It's not much volunteering because it's mandatory and all students are being threatened to complete a minimum of forty hours. The school board is holding our Diplomas hostage, and won't be giving it to us unless we complete the requirements. Maybe the school should look up the term "volunteer" in the dictionary, or even google it (it takes less work in my opinion). "Vol•un•teer, - noun, a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service without pay". Students don't have much choice in the matter of actually performing the service or not, because it's more like we are getting volun-told to do it. I do support the idea of being unselfish and charitable, but I believe people should have a choice in that matter. The schools would like to believe they are giving students a choice, but choosing to not do so will result in a lifetime stuck in high school. Four years was enough!

I heard about a lot of people getting caught with forgery on their volunteer record sheets. It's to be expected if a person only uses one pen and one style of writing. For that, they deserved to be caught. Idiots. So I decided to take another approach. Back when my brother was in high school, he did his volunteer hours through Red Cross and the local holiday mall program. What a sacrifice of unselfishness he learned as he opened the mall doors and gift-wrapped for people during the Christmas season. As great as that sounds, no thanks. By that time, (Grade 12) I had enough self-practice with Photoshop to the point where I needed a little challenge. Getting my hands on old (and real) documentation was easy, I reused the certificates my brother had lying around and scanned them into the computer. Scanning and editing didn't do a well enough job for my standards, so I personally recreated the individual text-boxes and matching logo to fit the original perfectly. Of course, I replaced my brother's name with mine in bright red Arial font (they weren't creative with the typography at all!) and changed the indicating numbers accordingly. Five hours here, eight hours here, and everything totaled to forty-two hours. I was feeling quite generous towards myself so I threw in a few extra hours for a job well done. I left the dotted line blank because having a printed signature would throw off the authenticity just a little. I practiced my penmanship and signed each sheet. It was absolutely perfect, I couldn't tell the difference from the original.

On the following Monday, as I handed in the sheets of completed hours, the secretary took a look at them and checked them off accordingly. "Forty-two hours, nice addition." And with that, I was in the clearing. The idea probably didn't even cross her mind as I walked out of the office with an unnatural grin. By the end of the year, a few people have heard about my little escapades with bending the requirements and commissioned me to whip up some hours for them. Did I? Maybe. But I didn't charge anyone so I guess you can call this volunteer work.

At the end of the day, I saved myself thirty-nine hours and forty-five minutes of my high school life (which was probably well invested in some extra sleeping time). I went against what the school calls "volunteer" work, and took a personal stab at "the man". Not bad for a days work, and at least a funny story came out of it. I can honestly say, I 'photoshoped' my way out of high school.