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A Year in the Life
An author followed me around during my senior
year and wrote a book. This is my story.
By Autumn Morris
 A new book
was recently published about Berkeley High. The book follows three Berkeley
High seniors through their last year in high school. I was fortunate enough
to have been selected as one of those students. The book focuses on our individual
lives but it also presents some issues that most teenagers face everyday: schoolwork,
teachers, friendships, family and dealing with self-image.
In July 1999, a woman called asking me if I would be interested in being in
a book she wanted to write. At the time it seemed like a wonderful idea. Someone
would follow me around documenting Berkeley High through my eyes and asking
me how I felt about what was going on. Usually most students do not get the
opportunity to have their opinion heard. After the first meeting I agreed to
let this woman whom I just met into my school and into my life.
The first couple of months it was no big deal. Meredith would come and meet
my friends and me at my locker every lunch. She would ask us questions concerning
different areas of our lives. These were not formal question and answer sessions.
She just worked her questions into casual conversation. It was like she was
becoming "one of the girls." It was easy to ignore her when she was observing
me in my classes because she sat in the back of the classroom, her pen scribbling
across her notebook. I realized she was taking more notes in class than I was!
Although Meredith was incredibly nice to me and always looked out for my best
interest, there were times when I wished I did not have to be responsible for
having an opinion on everything that was going on. I knew as soon as something
big happened Meredith would be around to ask me how I felt about it. But wasn't
this what I wanted? To have someone care about what I was thinking and how I
felt? I thought about what Meredith was trying to accomplish and how much my
cooperation impacted the outcome of her project. In a small significant way
I was helping Meredith to change the way other people would look at public education.
What a heavy burden, but then again all I had to do was live my life and answer
a few questions. It couldn't be that difficult.
The year went on and as graduation approached I almost forgot that Meredith
was writing a book. She had grown on me like a big sister or a surrogate mother.
Our question and answer sessions turned into casual lunch dates between good
friends. The only weird part was that our friendship went one way. Meredith
knew almost everything about me, but I did not know anything about her. That
was the only weird thing about our relationship but I did not bring it up to
her until she was done writing the book. When I did ask her why she never shared
any personal information about herself she replied, "You never asked." So I
decided to take it upon myself to allow time for our relationship to develop
onto a mutual friendship.
Now that the book has been published and it's selling in stores, the reality
of the whole thing is really hitting me. I'm actually in a book! When I first
opened the book and saw my name on the pages I lost my breath. Everybody and
anybody can read about my life (to some extent) by reading these pages. I just
hope that through the lives of Jordan, Keith, and myself, people will see that
although we shared the same high school we did not share the same experience
there. I know that no matter what anyone does, everyone's experience in high
school will be different, and it is important to allow everyone a chance at
the same opportunities.
—Autumn
Morris is a student at UC Berkeley. She loves listening to hip hop and
R&B.
Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High
School, a Glimpse Into the Heart of a Nation by Meredith Maran is now
available in bookstores (St. Martin's Press, 2000)
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