With 12 years of public education, and three years of college education under my belt, I have really learned how to memorize every word my professors say for fear that it will be on the exam. However, I have not learned how to retain the information that my professors provide me with so that I can use it to my benefit in the future. My higher education has simply become showing up to class, typing as fast as I can to make sure I get every word on the slide before it changes, and cramming every word of it into my brain before the exam. What's the problem with this, you ask? The moment I leave the exam room, I forget everything I just spent days trying to memorize.

I'm not quite sure when school turned into a constant cycle of being tested on your "knowledge" of the subject at hand, but all I know is that it has been this way ever since I can remember. Unfortunately for me, I am TERRIBLE at taking tests. I can take a week to study material, make flashcards, quiz myself endlessly, and still just get an average score on the exam. Maybe it's just me, but I usually find that the whole class is always asking during lecture, "Will this be on the exam?" and when the professor nods yes, the entire class frantically writes it down in bold letters. However, if the professor says no, then most of the class doesn't write it down, and takes that time to check their Twitter accounts because they know they won't be tested on it. This shouldn't be the way we learn!

I want to be tested on my ability to creatively interpret what I have learned in class, rather than memorize a bunch of words to pass a test and then never think about it again. I want to be tested on how the information in the class made me think deeper, rather than what things I was able to write down quick enough during lecture. I want to be tested on how I will use this information in the future to better myself and others, rather than what the definition of a word is.

I believe that if teachers and professors collectively decided that they would begin to test their students on these things, then students would want to learn more. If students were taught differently, rather than sitting in a lecture hall and pretending to pay attention while simultaneously checking their Facebook notifications, then grades may increase. I think that giving a student the freedom to present the information they learn in class in a way that they choose, would enable them to feel more inclined to listen in class and study harder and in turn, be able to use the information they were taught in their future and in their careers. Isn't that the point of school, anyways?