High School Senior Pulls A Fast One With Epically Controversial Yearbook Quote, Risks Ban From Graduation
It took me a while to figure this out because I’m not too science-y, so tell me if you get it right away. A Georgia high school senior, looking perfectly beautiful and innocent in her yearbook photo, included a controversial and racy quote in the yearbook, based on the periodic table of elements. The cleverly encrypted quote almost got her suspended and banned from her own graduation.
Paris Gray was an upstanding high school citizen. She was the class vice president at Mundy’s Mill High School in Clay County, Georgia, who crafted the following quote to run with her senior picture in the yearbook:
The message ”” “When the going gets tough just remember to Barium, Carbon, Potassium, Thorium, Astatine, Arsenic, Sulfur, Uranium, Phosphorus” ”” seemed innocuous enough, but after the yearbooks were distributed, administrators discovered what those elements’ abbreviations on the chemistry chart actually spelled.
Translation: ”When the going gets tough, just remember to BACK THAT ASS UP.”
Did I mention that I love this girl? She’s all kinds of smart and overachieving, and she came up with this hilarious, stick-it-to-the-man hidden message for the yearbook that will live on as her legend forever. I don’t remember what my yearbook quote was, but I know that it definitely wasn’t that impressive. It was probably, ”Stay cool, have a good summer. LYLAS.”
I just don’t see how you can get pegged for being rebellious and deceiving school officials when it is done in such a nerdy way. In my humble opinion, I think any kind of uber-nerdy prank such as this should get a free pass because of the nerd factor alone.
Once Paris’ controversial quote was detected in the yearbook, she received in-school suspension. The school also considered banning her from her high school graduation as part of her punishment. However, school officials chose to have mercy on her and instead presented her with the challenge to ”give the best speech ever.” (Whatever THAT means. No pressure, Paris.)
I totally understand that yearbooks are permanent once printed and cost a significant amount of money, but I still maintain that Paris did nothing wrong. If she wants to be smart and funny by submitting a nerdy coded message that no administrator could crack, that is her right as a student. This appears to be a typical example of school officials overreacting because they were embarrassed that they didn’t understand the message in the first place. As for Paris, keep being nerdy and awesome. It will get you far in life.
