By Bella Carioscia
In Friday school meetings, the sixth form council presents themselves in the front of the auditorium, fun, lively music blasts through the speakers, students trickle in with smiles on their faces ready to not only begin their favorite meeting of the week, but to start the long-awaited weekend. The meeting is routine, the faculty announcements begin with a non-intriguing question that continues to become less and less witty and interesting each week. Who will be the first announcement? Not even a question. Mr. Stone rises from his seat, gives a lackluster response to our “well-thought out” question, while clutching a list of students’ names in one hand and two navy shirts in the other. Smiles amongst the student body continue to beam as we all know what’s ahead of us: Athlete of the Week, given to the student who not only performed exceptionally in the past week’s athletic competitions but who upheld and embodied the values of a Saint. The crowd’s roar, laughter, and applause grow louder after Mr. Stone announces the two athletes. All chant but one: Sarina Sheth. Here, she grows quiet, dull, unamused, frustrated and altogether disappointed. As routine as it is for the students to enter Maguire Auditorium, sit down, laugh, and clap, it is a similar routine of annoyance and anger that Sarina continues to endure as her achievements continue to be overlooked. She longs for the day when she can proudly wear that navy blue t-shirt, repping the “Athlete of the Week” title. She longs for the day when she is given what is rightfully hers: because Sarina Sheth deserves so much more than Athlete of the Week as a recognition for her athletic achievements. Her stellar performance on EJ’s girls’ varsity basketball team with a fine record of 1-16 was nothing short of impressive. “Sarina is a force on the court, averaging a total of four points and two blocks throughout the season. She is one of our stand-out star players,” her coach EJ explains to Mrs. Sheth. OH! Let’s mention her contribution to Canterbury’s girls’ varsity softball team. You heard it first yourself, folks, in Mr. Omaña’s drawn-out school meeting announcement: “Scoring that home run in a canceled game against the infamously defeated Gunnery team, who only had 5 players in the outfield!” So you clearly don’t need me to tell you that Sarina Sheth deserves nothing short of this title. Her mother, outraged at Canterbury’s failure to recognize Sarina’s success, stormed–nay, raided–Mrs. Stone’s office, demanding more representation and, furthermore, CHANGE. Mrs. Sheth was, to say the least, fuming. She requested that Sarina not only be given the Athlete of the Week t-shirt, but also a Tri-Varsity blanket at the conclusion of her senior year, despite participating in only two varsity sports: “It is only right that Canterbury makes up for all those weeks Sarina awaited the day where Mr. Stone announced HER name during a school meeting.” Mr. and Mrs. Sheth expressed that “this will partially make up for all the losses their daughter endured and the silent, awkward bus rides she painfully sat through after her softball team was once again mercied. Above all this will cure the anxiety that consumes her as she walks past the victory bell daily, knowing she will never receive the satisfaction of ringing it for the whole campus to hear and celebrate.” As Sarina’s parents both work in law, and thus heavily threatened to sue, Mrs. Stone, for the sake of Canterbury’s reputation, not only granted a tri-varsity blanket and an “Athlete of the Week” t-shirt to Sarina Sheth, but made a dinner in her honor where all students, no matter their athletic ability, were similarly granted both items. Canterbury is now a school that not only supports and values athletics and academics but similarly equality in all aspects of campus life!
The OSH Overseer 