In the four years I’ve spent wandering the halls of the high school, I’ve worked on two yearbooks, countless online stories, numerous productions, and the continuous process of staying afloat. I’m a part of this school community, and I deserve to feel accepted for who I am in name as well as spirit. Sadly, these last few weeks haven’t just been sad because of final banquets and goodbyes, but they’ve been riddled with reminders that I was never fully given the opportunity to be more than I am because of preconceived notions that I am different than my peers in previously assumed ways. 

I have gone by the name ‘Faye’ since the summer before sophomore year. That’s three whole years. I go by ‘Faye’ to all my teachers, friends, family, and coworkers. When I come in late to school, ‘Faye’ is written on my pink slip instead of a name I haven’t belonged to in years. You’d think that I would be given the liberty of having that name in all areas of my life since it’s there for the majority, right? Wrong. I would have assumed that when they called seniors down for the diploma check, they’d also be concerned about the accuracy of said name. However, as it stands, the program will list my deadname; this is a name I suspect people will read and then ask themselves, “who?” Whenever I bring this up to my uneducated and uncaring peers, they make a comment about the program being a legal document. The program, for those confused readers, is what has everyone’s name listed in order so graduation attendees can follow along. Why would the program be a legal high school record when even my diploma isn’t? 

It definitely wasn’t an easy task getting people to use my name, and it still isn’t. It felt like pulling teeth at the start, but thankfully it has gotten less

difficult over time with certain groups. 

Another setback of these last few weeks is that the Westboro Baptist Church has made plans to protest our graduation. This is a “church” founded on hatred: islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, racism, and conspiracy theories concerning former president Barack Obama. So, of course, I’m super excited to see those signs right off the bat. They plan on attending several school’s graduation ceremonies to protest; the catch is that it’s only going to be schools with public or known Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. This shouldn’t be the reason those clubs shut down, or hide, by the way. 

I remember in freshman year, the GSA club got hate and death threats. We’d walk there in groups of twos or threes, and sometimes you’d take two laps around the concourse, into the math hallway, until the big, scary, groups of hate would walk away. Groups of hate didn’t shut it down then, so it shouldn’t now. 

I can’t help but reflect on the growth, or lack thereof, in tolerance as I reflect on the growth of GSA in these four years. While our student body has a pervasive “snitches get stitches” attitude, I’ve always prioritized speaking up to an adult especially in the faces of intolerant peers. I recognize that the administration has a hard time because there are over 1,000 students in the student body, and I would assume they have to prioritize the most egregious or violent issues first. Regardless, instances of verbal intolerance deserve to be reported and responded to. Especially when it is something that could put the offender behind bars in a few years. I feel as if ultimately it is up to the students to control their behavior and understand why this behavior is not tolerated, and just simply not acceptable. There isn’t going to be an administrator saving you with an ISS in the real world; you’re gonna get punched.

This is a lot of hard things, so I’m even more thankful for the shining moments. For the friends I made this year who genuinely care about me and who saved my perception about true love and relationships; for the teachers, like Anna Manning, journalism teacher, who opened my mind to think more worldly; for the journalism community who supported my wild pitches and pushed me to write to the best of my abilities. For the way I can now count on people and know they will show up for me whether it’s big or small. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you grow and change and expand, and I’m so excited to watch you succeed.