On Wednesday, Jan. 21, San Benito High School held its annual
Challenge Day in the Mattson Gym. Challenge Day is a day where the
diversity of the school is celebrated. Enemies put their
differences aside and see how much they are alike
– where friends heal past hurts and make amends and where young
people ignite their passion for service and leadership. Teachers
and students join hands to create a school where every student
feels safe, loved and celebrated.
On Wednesday, Jan. 21, San Benito High School held its annual Challenge Day in the Mattson Gym. Challenge Day is a day where the diversity of the school is celebrated. Enemies put their differences aside and see how much they are alike – where friends heal past hurts and make amends and where young people ignite their passion for service and leadership. Teachers and students join hands to create a school where every student feels safe, loved and celebrated.
To me, Challenge Day is a day to understand and realize that if students work together, we can make our school however we want it to be. As Gandhi said, “We must be the change that we wish to see in the world.”
Therefore, if we want our school to be a place where no person is made fun of because of their religion, age, sex or nationality, we must stand up to people we see doing this and not participate in the name calling.
We need to help each other out, and, instead of making fun of someone who we feel is different than our friends, we should try to get to know them better. We can not judge a person before we truly get to know them and see what kind of a person they are.
Along with realizing this at Challenge Day, we played games where we got to know more about people on a more personal basis. We learned that a lot of SBHS students have similar social problems. Many people feel uncomfortable when they go out to lunch or at break. They fear they will be judged by how they look and by the people they hang out with. They worry about being picked on by some bullies.
Guys are always joking around with their friends by calling them girls. Is being a girl a joke? People always call things gay without thinking they might be offending someone around them. Next time you are talking with your friends, try to think before you speak. If we all do this, there can be a better atmosphere at school as well as the world around us.
Challenge Day made me realize how I sometimes judge people and say some things about them that might not be true. I challenge all you people reading this column to try to be nicer to people and talk to someone you think is different. Challenge Day is a spiritually inspirational day and I think all students should go to it at least once in their high school career.
Tiffany Martinez is a sophomore at San Benito High School.
