I hear that I’m “Lazy,”

“Undedicated,”

And my personal favorite,

“Will not get anywhere in life.”

I need to work harder,

Think smarter,

“You study a lot,

But not effectively.”

My teacher said that.

Anything below a ninety is failing;

Anything above a ninety is not good enough.

The weight of an honors class, an AP class,

Does not matter when I have a 94 GPA.

A recent study shows that

An average high school student

Has the same level of anxiety

As a psychiatric patient in the 1950s

But that doesn’t matter

Because my test grade is theirs;

My GPA is theirs;

My future job is theirs;

My life is theirs.

I work for them;

I lose sleep for them;

I’m stressed for them;

It’s all for them;

There’s such demand,

But not enough hours in the day to supply,

The due dates nearing,

And it’s 11 at night.

My mom says that

High school is the hardest part of my life,

And after the four years,

I will be rewarded.

But what’s after that?

College? Work?

I can’t get there with that

85 on a vocab test.

But they continue to tell me

That I’m lazy

When I finish my homework

Before the sun rises

The next day.

They continue to tell me

That I’m undedicated

When I take a break

Amid my six hour study period.

They continue to tell me

These things

As if I’m not stressed already

With the workload

Weighing me down everyday;

As if I’m not pressured already

With the pending test results

That define me as not only a student,

But as a person.

One day

I’ll prove them all wrong;

That I’m not lazy,

That I’m dedicated,

That I will get somewhere in my life.

But when I do,

They will take the credit,

They will take the praise,

They will take the glory,

They will take it all.

In the end,

My test grade is theirs;
My GPA is theirs;
My job is theirs;
My life is theirs.