After graduating from high school in 2017, I remember reflecting on my past four years and what exactly it was that I had really learned. It is then that a troubling realization overcame me. As I attempted to recollect the information, I found that everything aside from my last few months of 12th grade was an enormous blur and that 9th grade had been completely erased from my memory.

What had I learned? This:

Like many students, I had spent the majority of high school mindlessly studying an array of topics for hours just so I could receive another A on my transcript. Whenever I stepped out of the room after an exam, all of the information that my brain had swallowed was instantly regurgitated. I didn't study to learn, I studied for the test, I did what I was told and rarely ever used my brain or applied my knowledge in a creative manner. I was an academic robot. If ever there happened to be a subject that I truly loved and longed to explore further, I couldn't spend the time to do so. I couldn't because for me to actually learn something that I was passionate about would take away from the time I needed to study for my useless French exam the next day. So instead of "expanding my horizons," a promise that secondary and higher education institutions often make to students, I would instead neglect my passion and divert energy into other homework that served no purpose to me.

Unfortunately, this is the cold hard truth about education in the United States. Having gone through this broken system and critically analyzed my experience, I have drafted a series of key problems that I believe need to be addressed.

1. The manner in which material is currently taught in schools does not target long-term memory.

For example, in math class, oftentimes the teacher breezes through at least one topic per class period. This gives students little time to absorb the knowledge they learned. And, since only more information will pile on with time, students resort to rote memorization as the only method of retaining information. Memorization and comprehension are two vastly different processes: the former hardly scratches the surface of a subject, extracting only the bare essentials that will equip the student with enough knowledge to ensure success on the next exam. Plowing through a subject and barely understanding it is an ineffective method that is doomed to collapse. Instead of subjecting students to useless memorization of facts that will likely be forgotten the next day, teachers should administer daily check-ups in class to analyze students' progress. These check-ups can take the form of a five-minute class discussion or written surveys in which students can communicate their current level of confidence in the material. If the majority of students seem to be struggling with a topic, it should be further clarified and explained in class until students completely understand it. This can translate into a lengthy learning process; however, if the purpose of school is to prepare students for their future endeavors, it is imperative that curriculum is flexible and addresses the needs of all students to reinforce meaningful comprehension of material rather than mindless memorization.

2. School drains creativity, which is important for the "real world."

The purpose of school is to prepare students for the future. However, the current educational structure works against this intention. Students are expected to do exactly what the rubric tells them and dare not deviate from the standard in fear of receiving a poor grade. This is not how the real world works; within society, creativity and problem-solving are not only praised but are also vital in the everyday operation of business. There is no rubric for solving a software problem or five-paragraph-essay outline to draft a piece of investigative journalism. When students are let out into the real-world and asked to think outside of the box, it can be incredibly difficult for them because they were never raised to think this way in school. I propose that schools reform the conventional types of homework they assign and transform it into a series of creative assignments that enable students to devise their own unique solutions. This would not only be more meaningful but would unleash the student's creative potential--crucial for when the student enters the workforce.

3. Students should have the option of a specialized education.

In school, students are forced to take a variety of subjects all at once. If a student is passionate in one area, for example, science and engineering, the student still has to take arts and humanities courses. But, why? Shouldn't the student be allowed to pursue the discipline that most intrigues him or her...the topic in which he/she will most likely see success? Rather than requiring students take an array of classes, students should have the option to specialize their education. The student should have the ability to take only the classes that benefit the student's passion and the pursuit of a viable career. This would create a meaningful educational track and prevent students from failing out of classes in which they are not interested.

4. Cumulative tests are the only method employed to analyze one’s mastery of a subject.

The only way that schools can confirm a student's mastery of a subject is through cumulative tests. These tests, however, fail to take into account whether the student received an A because she actually understood the material, or if the student received an A because she purely memorized gobs of information that are now gone from her memory. In order to eliminate this gray area and to ease student's anxiety about exams, tests should be replaced with creative projects. These projects will enable students to apply themselves and actually understand how the material is applicable to the realm outside of academia. Creative projects are the only practical way to see if a student truly understands the information taught in class.

In a rapidly evolving world, our schools have remained traditional within a strict educational platform. It is imperative that we equip our students with the best education possible in order to ensure their success in school and beyond. I believe that the implementation of the solutions that I had drafted will move our education in that direction. It is time to take a long, hard look at our educational reality and start implementing solutions to common, long-standing problems. Until this happens, we will be at square one.