It was the first day of school. The young girl was seven and brimming with excitement at the thought of all the new things that awaited her. The school supplies and backpack had that specific new smell that she loved and this made her even more excited. She was wearing a brand-new blue and white uniform, with new cuffs and collar, perfectly white, well ironed and adorned with embroidery. Her hair had been carefully combed by her mother into two ponytails adorned with big white bows. Her mother had even taken her to a photographer that morning, in order to take a picture of her dressed like this. She hoped she would make many friends among her new classmates. She also felt a bit intimidated by the whole thing. Everything was new and the young girl wanted to make a good impression.

She was sitting in the first row of the classroom, almost in front of the teacher. To her right, another girl dressed just like her. The teacher is dressed in black but she does not remember her features clearly. The teacher is talking to the students. The girl starts talking to her classmates, whispering “What is your name?”, already trying to make new friends, at least get to know them. The next thing the girl remembers is being asked to show her palms to the teacher who hits her with a long wooden stick as a punishment for speaking. The girl feels a faint stinging sensation in her palms. She feels so lonely, so sad at how the day turned out. She feels ashamed. She feels everybody looking at her. She feels the weight of their look in her back and is happy to be seated in the first row so she does not have to see their staring faces. She does not dare to look right, to her peer who is punished as she was. Maybe she feels guilty, thinking she was responsible for what happened to them.

She feels alienated. It is as if she is viewing everything from above. She sees herself alone and all the other figures are floating away from her, leaving her there. Her first day at school. She had wanted everything to be perfect and she is the first person to be punished by the teacher. She has tears in her eyes. She hates her teacher.