My senior year at Thousand Oaks High School was not without it’s problems. Mr. Chevalier’s English class was after lunch. I ditched his class a lot. As a result of the absences I failed senior English. I was told I would not graduate college prep curriculum and because of my electives I was still going to graduate.
On graduation day I attended the exercises. I did not get a diploma. A teacher directed me to the office where I was to report my problem. There a counselor quickly wrote my name with a sharpie pen on a gold sheet of paper. It was a certificate of some kind. I could not read it because something was wrong. No other students were there and I didn’t see any other diplomas. Getting that certificate didn’t feel like graduating, and I didn’t go to any graduation parties. I really felt left out.
If you want to know what the trouble was try reading One Vote. It is the story about my sophomore year student government experience.
45 PERCENT 