School Days

Maya (age 16) is struggling to catch up with her classmates but she seems to like school here. She's at the private Catholic school, although being Catholic is last on their agenda - they don't even have prayers. She has a spiffy little uniform right down to the socks with the embroidered "M" for Marist. Can she wear plain black socks? Goodness no, they have to have the $30 "M" on them. What a package: shoes, skirts, tops, sportswear, trainer, swimsuit, cap, bags, socks...everything but the underwear. The other day they had inspection: regulation skirt hems (nothing above the knee!); clean and trim fingernails; proper haircut; regulation clothes. This is to keep students focused on their studies and parents in the poorhouse.