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| school has me like |
Between the ages of 4 and 15, something happened to me. Yes, I may have grown a little taller, or a little smarter, or even a little less naive, but that's not what I'm referring to. I've lost most of my interest in learning; I mean really learning about the world around me, even if it's not in the class syllabus. What happened to the "Why is the grass green?" or "How do birds fly when we can't?" or "Why do the leaves change color?" questions that my mind used to be riddled with? I've always heard that curiosity killed the cat, but I was never warned that the cat, in fact, was the one to kill curiosity.
Walking down the halls of Troy High, I'm immediately met with complaints from my peers of AP classes that pose no interest to them other than as a GPA booster, with the sight of dark under-eye circles permanently attached to blank (but caffeinated!) faces. I'm tired; we all are. Through our sleep-crusted eyes, academia is only a haze and all we see is what we believe to be the goal: "to pass the course-to get a degree" (97). Somewhere along the way, the pursuit of knowledge became distorted and mistaken for the hunt for a heavily sought-after college acceptance letter. Excitement to go to school turned to indifference and, eventually, dread. I started to feel less and less like I was chasing after my dreams; rather, that I was being chased after. In the game of cat and mouse, I suddenly found myself as preyed upon; I was cornered and afraid.
In a plethora of district-mandated courses to take, it is easy to lose sight of what the point of school really is. Often, as graduation is nearing, a dilemma arises: after being absorbed in getting an "A" for so long, rather than what students are truly passionate in, many are lost when it comes to what direction to take in life. With no clear-cut, black-and-white answer key, finding and picking a career suddenly becomes an impossible task. So perhaps, every once in a while, we should close out of the Schoology app and really learn.
Elise, I loved your post because I feel like everyone can agree with it to some degree, especially our "dark under-eye circles." 11 AP is one of the few classes I have this year that I am excited about going to because we have interesting discussions!
ReplyDeleteElise this was such a great post! It was super relatable but also I liked how you related back to A Raisin in the Sun.
ReplyDeleteI loved the use of antimetabole and analogies. I found myself constantly nodding as I was reading the post, relating it to my friends who study just for those numbers that are most important than anything else in the world for some. This post was a great reminder to all on the true reason we study; it is for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautifully written post! I cannot agree more with your feelings of "being chased" rather than chasing after your dreams. Too many high school students (at Troy High, especially and myself included) have lost sight at one point or another of why we are at school - to learn.
ReplyDeleteLoved your post, I think it would be interesting to see how you would compare yourself to Beneatha since what you wrote seems similar to her ideology in a way. Still love the gifs
ReplyDeleteI LOVE GILMORE GIRLS and this post is so relatable because along with almost everyone else at our school, I am constantly burdened by school and pleasing other people's expectations of myself. I also really enjoyed the gifs of Rory:))))
ReplyDeleteOh and also the title was really funny/clever
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone's thought of this before and is so relatable especially in a place like Troy High. High expectations not only from parents but also peers results in the abandonment of self-interest and is replaced with whatever is necessary to get the desired end goal. Fortunately, this will change in college as we pursue a particular niche that we select for ourselves :)))
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