In English class, we are reading I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. The honors English teachers decided it would be a fantastic idea to have high school students stalk each other and try to preform good deeds while remaining anonymous. If we cannot shut up for the forty-four minutes of class they spend with us, how do they think we can keep this project a secret?
I am the type of person who is strong-willed and determined so when this project was presented I accepted the challenge. I prefer to work alone and not have to depend on anyone else to help so this project was more my type of project; I worked alone and I did research.
Justin Mgbokwere. That was the guy's name, which I still do not know how to say. He is in my religion class and the only time I have ever heard him speak was the one day he had to lead prayer. First, I looked him up on Facebook. From there I found out he went to St. Bede's, we have nineteen mutual friends, and one of his friends, Maddie, I play lacrosse with and she is in my gym class.
The next day in gym, I decided to ask Maddie about Justin. All she said was that he is nice. She was a font of knowledge about the silent kid in Religion. From speaking to Maddie and creeping him on Facebook, I still had no clue what this boy needed. It was not like he did not have friends, he just did not talk! Later that day, I opened my student handbook where I keep all my assignments. In the corner, there is a quote on every page. That was when I got the idea.
I found inspirational quotes about things like friendship and life in general. I thought about how I could give the quote to him and decided on putting them inside fortune cookies, like I was giving him a fortune of good luck and inspiration.
I asked Deason Neu if he would mind calling Justin to his office and giving him the present and he gave me one condition: he had to try my fortune cookies.
I don't know what Justin's reaction was or how he felt because I was not there but I hope he liked the cookies and maybe he will open up more towards others.
As a Marist student, I have fulfilled one of the Marist Marks. Not all Marist students love but through this project, I have tried to help Justin in one of the only ways I can. I have tried to show that someone cares and that someone loves him, not romantically, but as a sister would love a brother. After all, we are only students for four years but brothers and sisters for life.
