School has taught me more about trying

to fit in

rather than getting to second period on time,

and being picked last for dodgeball

made me feel more like the walls of

the gymnasium

rather than your fucking classmate of four years.

Sometimes we’re only friends with people

because we have to see them

5 times a week;

or maybe we just try to convince ourselves that we

aren’t as lonely as we

actually are.

Mornings have become about crowded hallways

of lifeless bodies

pushing down energy drinks and

small talk.

Education is more about memorizing thirty definitions

than actual knowledge

and that has fucked me up just as much

as my elementary school bullies did when I

was 13.

School has taught me more about ways

to get out of it

rather than wanting to learn.

And that’s sad.

 

 

 

 

Carissa Cicchini is an 18-year-old from Canada who loves to write, and she hopes to inspire others with her words. She’s nothing of the simple sort, but poetry makes her feel at peace. She hopes her writing is enjoyable to all who read it.

 

 

 

Natalie Chyi is an 18-year-old from Hong Kong who has recently moved to London, where she will be studying law for the next three years. She started photography to capture moments and pretty things/people/light/scenes as she sees them, and that idea is what continues to fuel all of her work. Find more of her work on nataliechyi.com, Facebook, or Tumblr.