Although midterms were finished two weeks ago, some Harriton students are still feeling the impact – one right in the eyes. After studying for hours on end each night for that week, Kaitlin is still struggling with her vision – miswriting notes and failing a African/Asian test because of it, running into students as she walks down the hallway, and even falling down the stairs from the third to second floor. Kaitlin, who did not want to give her last name, has finally decided to tell her tragic story to the Banner.

Kaitlin said, “The week of midterms, I had been studying two hours each night per upcoming test, so every night, as I took tests each day, I had two fewer hours of studying, which was great. But sometime during the third or fourth night of studying, my eyes began to itch and tear up. Then, on the last day of midterms, during my Spanish midterm, my vision became blurry and I could not see the test any more. I thought it was just a little reaction to the weather or something, but I was wrong.

“My vision stayed blurry for the rest of the weekend and even longer! I couldn’t see the notes on the board, the time on the school clocks, or even the clothes I had picked out and worn to school! I was having a miserable time. I still can’t see today, two weeks after midterms, and I’m really hoping that this is not permanent!”

In school Friday, Kaitlin had a terrible accident. According to student witnesses, Kaitlin was slowly walking towards the third floor stairs and misjudged where the first step began, quickly tumbling down all the way to the second floor. Luckily, Kaitlin was not hurt, although she was shaken after realizing that her vision had put her in real danger.

Kaitlin has been going through many other struggles because of her incapability to see, including chronic embarrassment and permanent bruises (from falling down the stairs and bumping into walls). She bravely shared one of her humiliating stories with us: “This morning, I was trying to pick out something to wear, but I couldn’t see what I was putting on. I finally ended up with my favorite gray T-shirt and jeans. My friends told me I had actually put on a see-through gray shirt, not my favorite ACDC T-shirt. Not to mention, it was on backwards. Plus, those jeans were from 7th grade and patterned with pink roses. So humiliating! I can never show my face again at school because of this fashion disaster!”

Although her vision may be permanently blurry, Kaitlin is still going strong, trying to put aside her embarrassing experiences and get back to her normal self. We at the Banner would like to express our admiration for her courage and warn all readers that midterm vision is a dangerous and highly fictional condition.