When it comes to education, one incident that changed the way I viewed education overall was in 7th grade. I was in 7th grade during the school year of 2017-2018 and as prerequisite for most schools as well as students we need to have a social studies/US history class. I remember my teacher at the time her name was Ms. Julien, and I would say that she was an excellent teacher. During late January and early February of that year we started to learn about Black History Month which meant the usual known black people who made a huge contribution to society never the lesser-known ones. This class in particular is what satisfied my curiosity and at the same time made it pique even more. Ms. Julien said, ” I know this might go against the curriculum but at the same time it might not, but the truth is what is being taught is what they want you to know.” The class overall was shocked yet confused but when Ms. Julien elaborated on what she said it started to make sense. Of course, when it comes to teaching about the U.S history the education system wanted to avoid making white people look like the bad guy but rather the savior. Certain things were omitted from the curriculum, so no one knew the truth however Julien did her research and told us about some hidden figures of society who were black and made huge advancements for society. Jerry Lawson was the man who paved the way for modern day gaming by inventing the first interchangeable cartridge for the video game home system. I didn’t know that until she mentioned it. But it wouldn’t just end in 7th grade as I soon found out as I entered high school that when it comes to the government and all the wrong doings would be uncovered sooner or later.
In 2019 I started my freshman year of high school and again I had to take a government class. This time my teacher was Mr. Fletcher who was a pretty chill dude however it said that in the real world it is important for you to remain enlighten and that is exactly what he did. He showed a video that discussed health across the US and when it came to milk and dairy I was rather interested. People who are lactose intolerant is more of a natural occurrence rather than people who are not lactose intolerant. This is because lactose intolerance is natural as humans are not allowed to drink milk from other species or in this case, cows. People who can tolerate cow’s milk or just not affected by it actually have a genetic mutation. This was cool in my opinion as it discussed how cereal was created solely for the purpose of distributing milk and getting people to purchase it. The video also talked about how when it comes to obesity it is more common in black people and this is true because when it comes to black people not many of us would engage in physical activities while on the other hand some of us would. Even on TikTok and YouTube there is more to discover about the government and what don’t want you to know. This was good for me as I was glad to always question things as a child even till now, I question things until I can find an answer that would make sense to me. Critical thinking is a good thing that we should continue to practice especially when it comes to US education because not everything adds up.
Tariq, I love that you’re already providing concrete details on the moments that shifted your educational views. Now, I want you to think about how you can frame this into a story for your reader – think about the freewriting we did last class, envisioning the scene and the details that would be important to focus on. Where do you want to put your emotional camera?
This sentence: “I know this might go against the curriculum but at the same time it might not, but the truth is what is being taught is what they want you to know.” contains meaningful critique about power in the classroom, curriculum, and history. I’m excited to see you develop this piece and flesh this point out more as you add more structure.