The Camel in Biblical Times & the CHS Student Today

Long ago in Biblical times the cities were protected with strong walls. There was a main gate to a city, guarded during the day and locked at night to protect inhabitants from attack.

Reaching the city at night, a traveler and his camel could only enter the city through a very small entryway, so small that it required one to bend down and move slowly, so narrow that only one person at a time could fit. A camel, being much larger than a man, had a truly difficult time negotiating this small entry. Because the entrance was so small people referred to it as the “eye of the needle.”

This small entry gave birth to the Biblical saying, “It is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.”

One might compare the plight of the camel to the predicament of a Chuuk High School (CHS) student wishing to get a copy of her/his transcript. Because if you had a choice between being the camel struggling in the dark to squeeze your large frame into the “eye of the needle,” you might find it easier than trying to get a copy your CHS transcript.

It is the legal right of a student to get a transcript; the transcript belongs to the student and is held in trust by the school. The school may not deny the student a transcript – as recently happened at CHS. The school may charge a student a reasonable fee to obtain a copy of the transcript and a copy must be provided to the student in a reasonable amount of time.

Well, hold on folks, the CSSS and CHS play by different rules. According to their rules the person who holds the keys to the transcripts can deny you a copy of your transcript, or make you beg and return numerous times, genuflect, and/or pay homage before getting it. And no one at the CSSS or CHS will ever ask, “Where does the money collected for the transcripts go?"

This has been going on for a long time with no end in sight. The CSSS and CHS administrations are aware of the continuing sage of the student trying to negotiate the “eye of the needle” – AKA "Transcript Hell” - and have done nothing about it.

The heavily bible-touting CSSS administrators should prevent cruelty to students; make certain the student suffers less than the camel trying to enter the city at night, or be prepared for Biblical comparisons such as:

“It is harder for a CHS student to get a transcript than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.”