Evan Farley, ‘20

September 2018

Let me be blunt: Your friends don’t care about your feelings about the new schedule. Whether you like it, hate it, or didn’t even notice there is a new schedule, nothing is going to change this year and complaining about it to your peers, all of whom are going through the exact same thing, will just annoy them.

‘I really really hate the eight period days’ you might think, ‘it is an intolerable offense. Students must have some rights, after all.’ This rage is good. You now have an issue that you are passionate about. But your friends don’t care and Dr. Lerner won’t hear it, so you have nowhere to go, right? Wrong.

You have the Opinion-Editorial section of the Bardvark. Op-Eds are a chance to channel all the frustration that has been building up and write an eloquent piece explaining your hatred for the new schedule, or whatever else you ardently believe in. You can shed light on the horrors of the school day ending at 3:35 and lay out the problems with having four periods of electives a week without being interrupted. There is no need to be objective - leave that to reporters. This is your time, as a concerned citizen, to voice your most controversial opinions and to speak up for fellow students who experience the same skewed system. Bardvark editors, unlike your friends, want to hear it all. We want you to find your voice. Refine your voice. Tweak your writing until it is so persuasive, so compelling that everyone agrees with you. The faculty rescinds their vote and come November, the system is saved.

This is not the case at every school. All over the country there have been instances of censorship, extending even to the point of administration officials shutting down newspapers when students wrote unflattering articles on school policies. At BHSEC there is room to write about whatever is on your mind, be it the schedule changes or the awesome Model UN team. Take advantage of this open platform where the press is free and the judgement low. Do not worry if you think your writing isn’t good enough, the best way to improve it is by doing just that, and we have a wonderful team of editors who will guide you along the way.

A good op-ed can change minds and policy, or at the very least stir up some controversy (if any member of the administration wants to let the school know that things could be much worse, we promise to keep your identity a secret). We want a wide range of opinions, so don’t be afraid to share an unpopular opinion, in fact, those are encouraged. Please email the Bardvark at Bardvark@gmail.com, or me, at ef211m@bhsec.bard.edu, and together we can turn your passion into writing.