Another semester has somehow come and gone. In other words, I've experienced yet another week of feeling constantly anxious and stressed about how my grades will turn out. After sixteen years of schooling, you would think I’d have it figured out by now. Alas, the feeling of “I’m not good enough” wiggled its way into my head once more.
I am a student who studies hard, participates in extracurricular, loves to learn new things and works part time at a job within my field of study. On paper, there is no reason for me to be feeling this amount of self-doubt. However, step into the reality of a student and become faced with the enormous pressure of testing well to maintain a high GPA. Throw in a subpar teacher who doesn’t seem to care and it turns into a nightmare, trust me.
Last week, I had a full-on meltdown about a grade I have yet to receive for an accounting class necessary for graduation. I had studied hours upon hours for the tests and guess what? I was actually proud of myself for mastering the concepts. As a marketing major and a FOFAS (Fear Of Finance and Accounting Student, coined by yours truly), this material was very difficult for me. Not because I don’t work hard or am unintelligent, but because I learn in a different way and have strengths in different areas.
And herein lies my main frustration. I love school; I always have. But I do not love our current education system and where it seems to be going in the future. Every semester, I make myself watch a Ted Talk by Sir Ken Robinson (you can watch a fantastic version of it here). The talk is about how education paradigms are changing while we are not. Each time I watch this video, I am reassured and empowered by his observations and thoughts about education. I remember that I am not a product in a factory, even though I am treated like one.
Once I calm myself down, I become even more sad. For me it’s accounting, but for some kids, it’s lots of topics. Even worse, some of the kids are unable to have the support and resources I am lucky to have. We tell these students that they are not good enough, that they are to be blamed for their failures.
Well what about us, the citizens of our nation? As we blame students for scoring low on tests in subjects that are supposedly important for academia, who are the real culprits? As I look to graduate in the coming spring, I hope that I may be able to make a difference in looking to instigate change in our education system. Sure, I don't have a detailed plan that will fix it all in one go, but I'm hopeful we can come together. Let’s recognize that our society has changed immensely since the original ideas about education came about and design our schools around the students. Let’s put them first so they may excel and, in turn, our nation will grow to be better and stronger from the ground up. Students are the future, so let's give them an environment where they can reach their full potential.
