Category: Discussions

Education has always been something to look out for whenever you are planning to get a job or be someone in life. This world keeps going forward and if you fall behind this world is cruel enough to leave you behind. If it gets to that point you’re going to have to drag yourself forward and put in the effort needed to prove not to us but to yourself that you can do it. This was something my parents tried to make me understand since the first day I stepped into school. They wanted me to feel positive, good, and as optimistic as possible which to this day has helped me push on forward. They would tell me that everyone is born with a thirst for knowledge, it can be as simple as just doing or thinking about something. Doing so can bring out our curiosity and get us to experience new things in life. They would always ask me this question, ‘Do you want to end up like the people on the streets, the street vendors/homeless? They struggle to survive and they are always in need of something. From a family who comes to America to give us a bright future, they give you the sense that here in America, education is key to success and future, you are given the opportunities and it is up to you to use them. 

Schools are some of the most diverse and unique ways to learn. Education in public schools has always been different from that in private/charter schools. Kids from all different backgrounds and cultures come together to learn and help each other, with different ideas and opinions we can all learn from each other. We got to know each other and when it was needed we would all help each other as well. That was elementary school and what I thought the rest of my life in public schools was going to look like. I was wrong, in middle school, I was opened to newer opportunities that were quickly crushed by the students around me. It felt different and the atmosphere was completely new, I was surrounded by students who cared and didn’t, and that surprised me. Students started making groups and if you didn’t fit in quickly you would be alone. These groups limited the diversity that I was used to and if you tried to talk to them they would just give you that look of don’t talk to me.  Also being shy really didn’t help me cope with this new system. I was lucky enough to have made friends, but to my surprise, they were the do-nothing type of kids. They would spend most of the class time chatting and playing games, unfortunately, I had no choice but to sit next to them since I felt more comfortable doing so. My friends who were good for nothing had potential; they just didn’t want to show it. I had a project to do with them, which I knew I was going to have problems completing with them, so I decided to do it by myself. This put more stress in my life and forced me to do the work in order to keep my grade as-is and pass. This changed my view on how education was meant to be and I realized that in school you are all alone with your education; it was just you and the teacher. The other students in the classroom are roadblocks, distractions, and just students who want to hurt you into being one just like them, well that’s what I thought. I remember one day the teacher called a student who liked acting funny to attract everyone’s attention the “class clown” because this student would always do something to stop the teacher from teaching the entire class time. 

I was now in High School and I decided to be alone this time, but it was hard. You had group projects to do with assigned people and it didn’t matter if you liked that person or not you had a project to do.  In high school, students were more mature and know when it’s too much or too little. This is when the diversity starts to take place, you make new friends and people are open to learning more about you. They even start talking to you by walking up to you and starting a conversation. As students, we now know more due to past experiences and by sharing them others learn from them too.  But, after all of this, some students never change and continue to be in the spotlight of everyone’s attention. At least they now keep it within their groups instead of stopping the whole class for an unnecessary comment.  This once again helped me change my view on how education and school should work. Specifically, the way I was learning due to my past experiences. I made sure to make the right decisions when going through the grades of high school. Education is only for your benefit and it is up to you to expand your knowledge with the help of the people around you. It is up to you to see if the people around you can help you benefit or hurt your future. 

The people around you can really affect your actions and emotions. Having free public school could be a good thing, but when parents force their kids to go to school because they don’t want to, this affects us because they won’t put in the same effort as someone who does and wants to learn. They would instead waste time for themselves and others by talking and joking while wasting class time. Some will even tell you that school is useless and not needed, that there are jobs out there that don’t need a diploma or degree. But others that care about you like your parents always want the best for you and they want you to become a good person. Having a unique experience helped me define who I really am and what I want to become. These experiences have really taught me to work and learn for myself and the rest of the world on its own as well. Learn to trust and who to distrust can help you go on the right path.  

Have you ever heard that education it’s important to succeed in life? Since I started middle school I have noticed that students are expected to learn everything and have good grades. School is not that easy, especially if you do not fully understand the language. Classwork was so hard that I thought maybe there’s something wrong with me. Nowadays schools feel that it is just about grades and competition, which can be unfair because there are people that are gifted students and people have the money to pay for prestigious schools and tutors while the rest of us are being pressured by our parents and teachers to get good grades and be the best at everything to be successful in life. We are forced to learn subjects that are not going to be useful in life. Most of us spend their time studying just to get an A. Education is not affordable for many students even though we are told that we need a degree to have a better job and opportunities.
My first year of middle school was not easy, I did not understand anything. I remember staying up until 3:00 am just to finish a project. I wanted to get a good grade because that is what my parents expected from me. When I got my grade I was disappointed because I did not get the grade that I was expecting and when I saw the talented student get a good grade it made me feel that I was not good enough. I have worked really hard and I was able to get good grades. Seeing other people struggle makes me think that there is something wrong with our education because students have to compete with talented students which makes us feel that we are not capable of succeeding in life also we can feel the pressure from our parents telling us that we are not good enough and that we are not even trying even though we are doing our best.
Another flaw of the education system is the SAT. In High school I always studied for the SAT I was trying my best to get at least a 1300 I was not good with math and I’m still learning English it was impossible to get that score that I was hoping for Those tests are unfair because people like me who didn’t learn English at a young age might struggle with it. This causes me to get a low score. The SAT’s main focus is math and English which can be a problem to many of us since some people are not good at math or English which can cause a lower grade. Getting a low score does not mean we are not suited for college because a test can not define what we are capable of doing.
Students should be able to choose their classes because all students have different interests. Certain subjects such as math shouldn’t be that complicated, students should be given a choice to take deeper math classes or any subject. Forcefully teaching a subject that we don’t like is going to completely destroy our motivation because we could feel l dumb. Which means that a lot of motivation and imagination is being wasted. I was always taught that math it’s where and I would need it in real life. I have never used it since I finished High school. I remember “breaking my head” every night to learn equations that were important but I have used the Pythagorean theorem and many of my friends haven’t used it. This makes me feel that all of my efforts were worthless because I learned something that would not be useful.
College should not be so inaccessible for students. Not everyone has the money nor the ability to seek FAFSA and other programas. I have to work a full time job in order to pay my tuition which can be overwhelming because there are times that I don’t have time to do my homework or study which affects my grades and can cause a lot of stress and many people would drop out of college. High School students and society shouldn’t be fed with the idea that a college degree will make their life better. If anything, sometimes it could destroy it. The amount of debt students graduate with and the amount of unemployed college graduates is overwhelming debt can destroy some people’s life because sometimes people are not able to find a job and that would take years to pay.
School is difficult and every student can not understand everything that is being taught and if students are struggling we as a class should help and make sure that everyone understand at the main points of a lesson, also teachers should provide extra help for students and make lessons that can be both beneficial to the talented student and the student that is struggling.

The incident that changed my views on education would be the coronavirus of 2020. It seemed like it came out of nowhere and everything just got shut down and we were all put into what was supposed to be a short-lived quarantine. The regular school became a thing of the past and online was the only option. Obviously, at first, I was stoked about just being home and not having to leave my house every morning for school. Being able to relax during classes and not have to take them seriously because the teachers were very lenient when it came to handing in work late or having incomplete assignments. The google meets would be filled with students that were either not paying attention or sleeping, myself included. It seemed so convenient and easy for the first month or so, and then the next year was all online. It was the same as the year prior except more organized. But I began to miss what I had taken for granted, which was in-person classes and my peers. Online learning was an experience that I did not want for my last years of high school. I used to think that school was a boring place to be but it is most definitely better than being at home for 2 years doing school. I had in-person classes every Tuesday but it just wasn’t the same. There were barely any students in the building and the classes would still be online. The coronavirus changed my views on education because it made me appreciate classes in person and not take them for granted.