Student Striking Day II (Tuesday, October 11)

I did not have class today till eleven so I was going to stay in my room and get some work done and study for an exam and hear about what was happening on campus before trying to go to class. My roommate, Monica was still going to try and go to her eight o’clock class because she had an exam and could not afford to miss it. Her class was in one of the lecture theaters that seats about six hundred students and it is always full. Since the class is so large people can not tell who is actually in the class. The professor showed up and told them that they were still going to have the exam and hopefully that they would not be interrupted by the boycotters. Soon as she started handing out the exam half of the students stood up and started singing, pounding on the tables, and yelling at the students to get out of class. When Monica got back to our room she was so frustrated and angry because she just wants to go to class, but after this she had given up. She was no longer going to try and go to her other classes.
After hearing her story I made the decision not to go to class today and to leave campus. So a group of us decided to go to the beach. At first I felt really bad for going to the beach because I felt like I was skipping classes, even though I knew that they were not going to happen and that it would have not been the best decision to try and go to class. Once, the students who are striking get riled up things can get out of control really fast and it is just safer off campus for the day. When we got back to campus after the beach we went to eat dinner in the cafeteria and they were packed full of students watching the news where the prime minister of education made an announcement that all students are expected in class tomorrow at seven in the morning. Soon as the announcement was over the entire cafeteria erupted with the singing of “solidarity forever!”
When I got back to my room after dinner, my roommate had taken out her suitcases and was starting to pack. She had a feeling that the students were still going to strike tomorrow and if they did the university would be shut down. Monica was hopeful that they students would take what the prime minister said to heart and go to class, but she had a feeling that it would continue. At about nine o’clock a large group of students were running all over campus singing and trying to get students riled up for tomorrow. They ran into the courtyard of our dorm and starting singing and shouting up at the buildings telling people not to go to class and to join them. We stood out on our balcony and were able to see the silhouettes of all the students below yelling and chanting.