Sacrificing my evening in the name of school spirit (and a rant about how well being is taught)

Alright so my school has this mandatory thing called "celebration and awards evening" which is 3 hours of students sitting in a big hall at the city centre out of their own will to listen to a couple speakers blabber on about nothing before handing out awards to pupils. Sure, the orchestra/choir do things in between, but the time does not balance. I had to go as mum wouldn't except the excuse that I have the plague between 5 o clock and 8 o clock.

We got a half day but mum needed to go to work and dropped me off on the road leading to my house (I have my own key). I took this opportunity of freedom to go to the cycle cafe that's next to the part of town with all the terraced houses. That was closed. I knew of another place in an antique furniture shop but none of the food there interested me. I then went to one of those bakery chains and bought a kinda' dry bacon roll and a decent brownie for less than £5 and ate it on the field in the cycle path (the cycle cafe is a bridge over the cycle path). Also my key was still new and stiff and I had to call mum to figure out why the key refused to turn.

I then re watched my favorite anime for the 3rd time when I was called downstairs to go to this event. I made 2 mistakes: 1. not bringing my notebook to draw in while I'm bored and 2. not charging my phone. It was getting really hot for some reason and draining my battery like it's nothing. I figured out the cause and fixed it but the damage was already done.

I got to the place and noticed one of my friends who I'll call "biscuit girl" (because she always seemed to have biscuits in her bag.) We weren't that close, we met a couple months ago in double art as we were on the same table, but we don't share any of the same subjects so I almost never talk to her now; which is a shame as she's really chill and not like all the other extroverts who are obnoxious and annoying. My other friends weren't there as they either yeeted out or they we're in the choir. In the hall I spent most of the time trying to figure out where the projector was on the ceiling. There were all these fancy lights, mics and speakers on the ceiling but none of them resembled a projector. I couldn't go to sleep as I was right next to the speakers. I thought about escaping through the doors at one point as I was only about 3 or 4 metres away from the exit; but then I realized that I would just be as bored there then I would be here, and that it wouldn't be worth the potential humiliation of getting caught in front of the entire senior school and the parents of the unfortunate. Nobody likes Celebration and awards evening. All the teachers seem to hate it more as they have to wear these big cloaks with a white flower on. It's the day of the year everybody dreads, unless you are getting an award, but even then you get told in advance and the crowd is only clapping to make the room seem less quiet.

The worst part were the 2 talks on well being. It's the same cheesy crap you've all heard before:

- eat well

- exercise regularly

- sleep well

- don't work yourself to death

- don't waste your life on tiktok

It's all valid points, but when you hear the same things over and over again, the words turn into noise and it feels like your not doing this for your benefit, but because it's mandatory. That's why the only advice that's ever helped me is the video by CGP Grey about how to be miserable. It uses reverse physiology by telling you how to get depressed to the point you want to kill yourself; and obviously you don't want that to happen so you subconsciously do the exact opposite, which is much easier than following a set of rules. Like for example: "to be depressed, stay in your room all day, eat in there, sleep in there, watch TV in there, kill yourself there" is easier to follow than "to be happy leave your house more and go on walks with your friends".

But they didn't do that so I hated every second of it.

Also my school really loves it's feminism because it was an all girls school founded in sexist Victorian times and they really like to remind you that "you are a strong independent woman! you can be an astronaut! you can be a scientist! you can be an engineer!" It's like a strict parent telling you how not to be a disappointment. And it sets these values of self worth that because your parents pay for you to go to a good school, that you have to break all stereotypes and mark your name in history. And then they say how they care so much about student's well being while actively comparing them to the other successful students in the school. So they talked a lot on that too.

There's also the open morning event thing in November where students sacrifice their Saturday to sit around doing nothing for the 1 in 10 chance that you'll be a tour guide for some brat and their parents. Does anybody know of some quick (but not lethal) ways a British middle class girl in the city can get the bubonic plague so I can miss out?