Yes, this is kind of a rant about school, but it also has some really interesting points to consider. All of us don’t like something that school does in one way or another. Whether it’s why we should have good grades to what constitutes that an A is 90% and above to why we need to study things that won’t be practical in the jobs we want to be in, school can be a huge chore sometimes and a great place to be other times.

     Is that what colleges are going to say if you get one B in your high school career? I mean, that’s why we work so hard, right? So that when we get into college, we can continue to get the necessary education for our future livelihood. But, this really stresses students out. There were times in the eighth grade where I would panic if I didn’t have an A, because I thought that meant that I couldn’t go to any of the colleges I wanted.  If I could give advice to any schools, especially high schools, I would insert a knowledge-filled PowerPoint every quarter to remind students that it’ll be okay.

     An A is considered successful, but if you have parents like mine, anything less will not get you anywhere. But why is 90% an A? Why not an 85% and above? Well, this system is particularly arbitrary and a sort of tradition that we’re so stubborn on keeping, that most students don’t really ask why; they just try to get the A. This makes some students not really retain the information they’re supposed to “learn”, because they’re sole focus is on getting an A in their current classes. A 90% seems to be an A, because it shows that you’ve earned the top 10%. That’s great and all, but no one is truly sure about why an A is an A and a B is a B.

     If I was granted the power to solve this problem for elementary to high school students, I would change the system completely to a “pass or fail” system where I would say that 75% or above is passing whilst anything below is a fail, because if you understand over three quarters of the information with your busy schedule and social life, I’m sure you will be able to do well on your finals and getting to a college. When you go into college, that’s a completely different story…

     Who will use this? Unless you want to be an engineer, like myself, or want to be a physics or chemistry or mathematics major, you will most likely never use this after high school. It’s really depressing for me and some other students to watch others complain to their teachers as to why they have to learn something that they won’t use after they graduate. Do we learn these things to benefit the commonwealth’s knowledge?

“School tries to make you good at everything at B effort. In the real world, you get hired for the things you do well. If you’re a computer programmer, you don’t need to be good at dealing with people…”

Theriault

     When I am being interviewed for an aerospace engineering job, NASA won’t ask if I can say all fifty states in alphabetical order. They’ll hire me and place me in the job that I specialize in. If I was the head of the educational department, I would set certain paths for certain careers and make sure that they’re spending more time in classes that will help them get farther in the career of their choice.

     School, whether you love it or loathe it, you honestly need what it provides you. Pick the right choices, so you can have a brighter future.