"Politics and Power"

Loss is a tragic concept. We crescendo our bonds throughout our entire lives for them to shatter and fall apart in the blink of an eye. In an interview, the interviewer might ask, "What is your biggest weakness as a person?" 

To some this question may be difficult, it's hard to judge your own character in a meaningful way that isn't self-slandering. To others, it might be an unthinkable question, some people truly believe that they are perfect. However, to me, I have an answer;

"I cannot let go."

It was the beginning of another school day. Here in Los Angeles, you may expect the weather to always wear a smile on its face, however you couldn't be more inaccurate. The mornings here are extremely humid, but extremely cold--at least cold for a Californian's standards--as the temperature sits in the low forties, Fahrenheit. However, compared to the typical cloudiness of a cold winter day, the sun was out and shining violently down on the entire city. The sun being out actually can be quite a problem here, the city is a dirty place and the extreme concentration of light only highlights the pollution and filth even more.

I personally hate the sun, the sun is extremely annoying and only is a hinderance for myself. I prefer a cloudy day over a sunny day any time. Today is a disgusting day, and this didn't help my already soured mood.

I bring myself to the school, and I can only think that it's the same shithole that it always is every morning. Although the school hasn't treated me too bad yet, I still can't figure out why the government forces kids to attend these shitholes. I'm learning that school is a place where other kids make political systems, cliques, and groups. It's a strange yet natural human occurrence. Being locked together, people will create politics in order to gain an edge.

It's based on boredom and instinct, almost everyone wants power over everyone else.

That brings me to a new figure that I recently discovered. A junior who attends my school, he's in eleventh grade and he's mean, lean, and seems to only crave power and money. I am referring to our student president, Venustiano Cienegas Neira. I haven't come into direct contact with Venustiano yet, I don't step foot near his territory. Plus, I don't see any reason why he would target me, I don't do anything.

I have discovered how threatening Venustiano is, and I never even have seen his face. He owns this fucking school, and I got this information from walking by a group of teachers discussing him in an open classroom while I was walking through the hall. Even with the little information I know about him, I can infer that he's a authoritarian person. I don't know if I will ever come into contact with him, but I feel like eventually I will be forced to.

Over the next few days, I have heard information about bits and pieces of Venustiano's system within this school through eavesdropping on unofficial faculty meetings. I also talked with a few students to further try and understand the school politics. I discovered a lot over the course of two days.

Venustiano has a 'senate' that he exercises power through. It's his advising body, some members are part of the student council as well, and some are apart of Venustiano's personal club that he has started. This club is bastardly named the 'Government Club.' How obvious is that?

The Vice-President of the student council is Emilio Santiago, he's a senior meaning that he is about to graduate. Emilio Santiago is a name I've heard before, some of my peers actually have bought drugs off of him, and I've heard their conversations in class.

The next figure is Xiao Kai, who serves as the disciplinary or 'sergeant-at-arms' for the student council. He 'represents,' meaning he exercises authority, over the senior class in the northern section of the school. His territory includes the J-Building and the K-Building, notable science and math classes for upperclassmen are located there. The auto-mechanics class is also in that area as well.

The secretary of the student council is Juanito Reyes, a junior like Venustiano, he exercises authority over the junior class located in the southeastern part of the school. That is where many of the upper-class English and elective classes can be found, the G-Building and the C-Building. 

The treasurer for the student council is none other than Alfonzo Aguinaldo, another junior who is responsible for the western section of the school. This is where all the art related classes and health classes are located. I have actually seen Alfonzo around recently, he shares the role as treasurer and fundraising officer. His posters are constantly plastered all over the walls.

The final member that I've learned about is Siephus Li, he's also heard to be the youngest member of the student council. Siephus is in tenth grade, he's a sophomore, and I definitely know about him. I actually share my music theory class and jazz band class with him. He's a child genius and rumor has it that he's going to graduate this year. Siephus takes on many roles within the student council, he is the historian and the parliamentarian. He is also the authoritative figure for all underclassmen, not just sophomores but freshmen as myself. 

Something about this system that Venustiano has created fascinated me, it must be nice to have privilege in this place. The lunch food sucks and we can't use anything like microwaves, so the only thing edible we can bring has to be cold. We don't have any lockers, and my classes require that we carry our textbooks, so I am carrying at least three textbooks each day. The lunch eating area is outside, so it's either really cold or really hot out there. I would love to be able to sit in a climate controlled classroom for my breaks in school. Venustiano's system sounds promising.