Uniqueness is power, by India Havers (Genazzano College)
It was Dinner Time in the Ahern family household. Erin, her older brother Jacob, her father and her mother gathered around the small dinner table. Everyone was busy digging into a large plate of Spaghetti Bolognaise, except for Erin. Her father soon became concerned. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked. “I’m fine,” Erin snapped, “I just don’t feel that hungry, that’s all.” Her father wasn’t quite satisfied. “I find that extremely difficult to believe as you usually have such an appetite at Dinner.” Erin blushed; she couldn’t think what to do. She glanced at her Mother at the opposite end of the table. Her mother nodded politely and said, “I agree. You have been acting quite odd lately.”
The whole family fell silent; their eyes fixed on Erin. “Er… Well… It’s just that… I’m scared about starting high school because I know I’ll be teased and called names!” Erin blurted, with tears running down her face. Her father stroked her red hair. “Erin… if anyone teases you, or calls you names, just remind them… if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!” Her mother and brother exclaimed. “And just remember…” her father whispered, “that you are unique, and uniqueness is power.” Erin smiled, “Thankyou.”
It was Monday morning – Erin’s first day. Erin grabbed her newly bought school bag from the kitchen and was just about ready to walk out the door when her father appeared. “Now remember what I told you last night, uniqueness is power.” Erin grinned. “Thanks Dad, I promise,” she replied, gently kissing her father on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight” she added, just as she closed the door behind her.
Once Erin was on the bus, there were hardly any seats available. She looked around, there was one seat left, right at the very back of the bus, next to a boy with gel smudged all over his spiky hair, and several piercings down his right ear. Erin slowly made her way to the back of the bus, dodging hundreds of glances fixed on her. But no matter what they thought, she wouldn’t care, because she knew she was unique, and uniqueness is power. She finally found her seat and sat down, only to be rudely remarked with “that’s one ugly dress… loser!” Holding up his fingers in the shape of an ‘L,’ was the boy with several piercings. Erin became fed up. “Well I quite like this dress, but if you don’t like it, you’re more than welcome to stand at the front of the buss where you won’t have to look at it.” The boy looked confused, he wasn’t used to this response, especially from a girl, so he just shrugged and said, “Whatever, you’re still a loser.” “Does it really look like I care?” Erin asked. The boy just shrugged again and made his way towards the front of the bus.
Later that day, at lunchtime, after two long hours stuck in a stuffy classroom with bubblegum filled desks and chunky textbooks, Erin was more than happy to sit down by herself and enjoy her lunch in the courtyard. She was just about to un-wrap her homemade chocolate cake when she noticed a girl from her history class being followed by a large gang of boys wearing singlets and faded jeans, one of them being the rude boy with several piercings who Erin had encountered on the bus.
Erin knew she needed to act fast, so she walked over to the boys and asked, “What are you guys doing?” All except the boy with several piercings just smirked. The boy with several piercings quietly whispered to one of his mates. Soon, all the gang of boys joined in the conversation. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the boys turned around and said, “Nothing.” Erin laughed. “Well it sure didn’t look like that, following and teasing my friend like that.” Erin glanced at the girl and smiled. “C’mon, I’ve got some delicious chocolate cake I’d be happy to share.” The girl smiled. “Thankyou Erin” and the two girls made their way back to the courtyard.
