....is that how I am defined?
Today in KIPP class we brought up a subject that has been and will always be on my mind. Education. We prepare and prepare for 'real world' throughout our entire childhoods and adolescence. But what do we actually take away from it? My favorite story: 1st grade in Singapore. We had to write a composition (or essay) about any topic we wanted to write about. I wrote about a purple snail. What did that get me? An F, with the reasoning that nothing like this could ever happen. In contrast, a friend of mine was recently going through his old elementary school belongings. Being raised in this country (the US) he was naturally given the assignment, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" He answered "I want to be a dinosaur." no joke. The teacher gave him a smiley face.
Our world is seeing a drastic chasm between discipline and creativity. Both are needed in an ideal society.
With a lack of discipline in the United States, the education system has witnessed somewhat of a degeneration, at least from my understanding of the situation. A speaker came into our class today. She made me realize where our society stands. In her day she knew every person on her street. How many of us can say that today? All the neighbors would stop and talk to her. She said her mom knew about the trouble she had gotten into at school that day even before she came home just by word of mouth. Now what do we see in our communities? Isolation. Fences separate our properties. Lawsuits are so common nowadays people are scared to do what used to be everyday things. Fear is undermining our society. It is a flaw that the legal system has abused to such a great extent and the sad part is that our generation is going to pay for it.
Even more than the lack of community in our neighborhoods, this lack of community still separates the same cities. St. Louis is a segregated city, check out Savage Inequalities to learn more.
Poorer schools get the shaft. Their funding is cut to the bare minimum. They can provide reduced lunch prices and no more. Their music and art programs are cut. The potential for Mozarts and Renoirs is there, but the lack of opportunity is frightening.
Again. Do I attribute my success in my academic career to luck or to my perseverance?
I'm not sure.
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