Show i The Burnt Jello hello Tribute By Alyce Martinez It supposed d to be going easy was MJ 1 suppo school A refresher course T to to quick I f tf to build confidence they said A I r work to class with students of various backgrounds some more skilled than others but generally everyone learning new procedures and machines h- h W it will be easy after the shock of first day stress wears off By the end of the seven-hour seven first day my brain was on overload Record keeping Word Processing Calculating English Constantly at attention ready to absorb the slightest sound of new knowledge is exhausting mentally as well welt as physically r. Dragging myself home is a of the shape I good description was 1 in at the end of the last period The responsibilities of life for the 1 remaining part of the day lacked J t enticement My brain was not functioning The homework accumulated the day looked like no more than a pile of unorganized knowledge with no place to go What was it the teacher wanted Which book was for which class What did reveal my coeds mean The days day's culmination was was- all too overwhelming and I felt drained Supper was not imminent In fact it was four hours past supper time I realized the children had functioned better their day of school when they had m made ade f themselves seles some eggs an and hash hash browns I 1 was glad for that But wanting to contribute something to their welfare I chose the easy way out and made an offering of Jello for the next days day's treat With no more energy than enough to boil two cups of water and pour it over two packages of Jello I asked the children to stir until dissolved an and ana l call me Well they didn't call me Instead the bowl of Jello was placed in the refrigerator and the cold took its toll spoon and all The spoon was held tight in the rubbery Jello that lacked the extra two cups of water The only logical thing to do would be to melt the Jello and add the remaining water Time was too short to stand and slowly melt the Jello on a burner so I 1 placed the proof oven-proof bowl in the oven at a temperature indicative of someone who will be right back Retiring to my place of homework I 1 continued with a meager attempt at sorting out this new found knowledge At in inthe inthe inthe the morning homework completed I set the alarm for and fell back exhausted fully clothed into an immediate deep sleep that seemed to last only a few seconds Then the alarm rang A new day Hopefully a better one not so stressful and demanding I pulled myself off the bed with my body remembering all too well the prior days day's events It seemed as though my throat was a little sore too I walked at a pace that seemed seemed to quicken the closer I got to the kitchen By now my throat burning I realized Id I'd forgotten the melting Jello from the nig night t before The Jello was no longer melting I 1 stood there looking at a bowl of burned Jello You cant can't imagine what a bowl of burned Jello looks like Uke Nor could I have imagined I would ever see one I stood reflecting reflecting reflecting reflect reflect- ing as I pondered what was being observed Indeed this bowl of burned Jello was the last hurrah of the stress of the first day of school This bowl of burned Jello was significant it had emotional value It represented hard work and effort It was a symbol of sacrifice It was as if ifa ifa ifa a monument had been erected like a statue or a great edifice those kinds of things that man does to recognize the sacrifices and hard work of his fellowmen One might imagine Jello as something gentle something to play with as the fork goes after the thelast thelast thelast last playful little particle One can imagine what Jello would look like in any given container and parallel that thought with truth But a bowl of burned Jello is saved for the deep thinkers to contemplate and wonder if they'll ever know for a surety I would never have imagined what that accident erected nad symbolized to me on that stressful first day of school The Bowl Of Burned Jello tribute is bestowed on all students who know the stress of going to school and enduring that first day syndrome Know this May we never forget that hard work has its own own rewards if we can just get passed the burned Jello in our lives |