The other day I was sitting in my History of Western Art class struggling to focus, as I always do in classes like this one. You know the ones I’m taking about- where the professor talks in a less than monotone voice, turns off the lights and flashes a power point in your face hoping between the blaring light of the projection screen and the near hellish temperature he keeps the room, that you will actually manage to stay awake for the hour and fifteen-minute-long duration of the class. But it was cold this morning, so you wore a long sleeve shirt and now, between the five hours of sleep you got the night before and the warm cocoon you have created inside your sweater you are now beginning to doze off. But you can’t, you see, sleeping through even five minutes of a class like this you will miss nearly ten pieces of art- thus propelling you, the student, into a state of confusion where you will find yourself hopelessly lost and panicking- inevitably leading to a letter drop in your grade.
Regardless of this five-minute rule, this day in particular, I could not muster up one more ounce of focus. I believe my professor was discussing the evolution of oil paints when my mind began to wonder. I began to think about all the ways life has transformed over the last hundred years. From fashion to automobiles, human equality and technology there has been an array of evolution and change that has taken place in America alone in the last hundred years. It was about this time that I reached the fifteen-minute mark for my mind wandering and the panic began to bubble up inside of me, and then it hit me. Education. Why is it that with all this change and growth, in things as simple as a toaster to matters as difficult as genetic cloning, that the most recent substantial change in the education system was made when women were allowed to enroll in schools during the 1800s?
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Times have changed, society has changed, and people have changed. The United States now recognizes itself as a beautiful blend of different races, genders and cultures. So why is it that, on the topic of education, practices have not changed at all. It seems that society finds it easier to slap a learning disability on a kid’s file, and pump them with all sorts of medicines that might not even work, rather than change the way the classroom learns.
Now, I’m no expert, and I’m certainly not claiming to be. However, I do know the struggles I face in the classroom, myself. I know that whether it was high school classes, or now at a University level, school has always been something that has caused me concern. The transition from high school to college was like trying to jump up an entire flight of stairs (and I have little legs.) By the end of the year, I was told I have test anxiety and I was given a booklet to read about how to overcome it. Let me tell you, I read that booklet backward and forwards and twice before every exam, but it was no use. Now into my sophomore year, the idea of exams still make my legs weak, but I have learned that school is something that I will always have to work harder at than everyone else.
But what about the millions of other kids out there just like me who beat themselves up over average test scores? We are scripted at a young age to place our worth on the letters and numbers we receive, and eventually, these variables will inevitably lead to where we are accepted (or not) into college. Education has developed its own culture, really. There is a heavy pressure to go to college and with it comes the promise by all our grade school teachers that if you don’t you will struggle in life incredibly. But what if test taking isn’t a strong suit? We spend the majority of our youth in classes we don’t care about, learning information we will never use again, for standardized tests that are ultimately worthless in the real world. I’m not meaning to downplay education- our ability to learn and absorb knowledge is one of the most crucial qualities that make us human. And like any human quality, we are all different- with our own interest, strengths and weaknesses. But what do I know, I’m just a girl who daydreamed this up in class one day.
