The ‘ZapZeros’ Video:

I gave attendance advice to freshmen hoping to find motivation to fix zeros in their gradebooks on Thursday of January 21, 2021. And I have my fair share of a lack of attendance, but learning from my mistakes would hopefully help show freshmen to think of consequences. 

The ZapZeros video was shared to freshmen by our counselors office in Delta High School to encourage them to consider the effects of accumulative zeros, and how endangering practices can enable students to flunk. It included a collection of interviews of upperclassmen that advised against procrastination, low attendance, and more to guide newer highschool students through successful paths.

I was unaware of this idea until I entered the counselors office during my 3rd hour work study on that Thursday. I wanted to catch up on work for a class I ironically had a ton of zeros in. Mrs. Crowder and Mrs. Magtutu were excited to ask for an interview with me for the ZapZeros video. When we talked about the subject before filming, they asked me to talk about attendance. I froze. I was now being held accountable for missing school. Although the women who were asking me questions had no initial expectations or intentions, I reflected. I truly believed the consequences of accumulating zero scores was detrimental to my high school experience and my future GPA. 

The video shows me, slung on a chair, using a monotone voice while I suggested my fixes. But the passion I didn’t express in the video was mostly used for self-reflection. The video had a non-judgmental tone. The video conveyed that the school knows of some of the obstacles that we as a generation face. 

Truth is, most generations think that their generation had it worse, or that other generations did not experience some of the same things. These are valid assumptions since everything around us changes with such velocity, but these assumptions are shutting our young generation out. The American Psychological Association reports a “as-yet-unpublished” study that found at a Fortune 500 company, the older generation employees enjoyed their job for the meaning, and the younger employees wanted to “[mark] time until retirement.” The age groups had similar physical health, so this suggests engagement may support your mentality and positivity. 

What I wanted to share in the video was that teachers are here to help freshmen. As you grow older, they simply become friends with you. But I had to evade any possible hypocrisy. Most students in the school, freshman or not, are not keen on meeting all attendances, trying to enjoy a subject, asking for help, and preventing procrastination. School seems torturous, but it is here. We might as well have fun and progressiveness with the resources we are given to experience less anxiety. 

Freshmen throughout the school had different opinions on the video, and their insight is just as important as a junior’s (my) insight. If you are interested, log on to Deltapawprint.com next week to hear exactly what impact this video may have on freshmen and faculty.