Create your Own adventure-Anne Russell

1. What frustrates you the most right now?
2. If you could change the school system, what would you change and how?
3. What are your current plans for the future?

I have been in a very ranty mood throughout most of this fall break, so I'll respond in a rant (beware: it's a doosy!) to a combination of all three of my posed questions.

What frustrates me the most right now? School! A part of me wants to grow up and be through with college and just get on with my life. But then another part of me realizes just how precious these teenage years are and that I should cherish them! But how can I find a happy medium when lately school just constantly seems to get me down? This weekend was fall break, where I planned to do a lot of relaxing and unwinding. Granted, the first two days were occupied by hanging out with friends, shopping, and hiking at the gorge, all of which were fun and much appreciated. But yet, despite all the fun had, it all seemed to come crashing down when come Saturday, I remembered all the mountains of homework I had yet to start. Now will someone please tell me why teachers are even legally ALLOWED to assign homework over breaks? Because that just doesn't seem like much of a break at all. So most of Saturday afternoon was consumed by three different assignments (from calculus alone!) and me getting increasingly frustrated at the school system and myself for not understanding problems. Then Sunday's afternoon was completely eaten up by my brother so graciously helping me through my physics homework, which made about as much sense to me as a foreign language I do not speak. And I still have yet to start my apush homework.

The moral of that story is that I am constantly frustrated by school! I just can't stop grumbling to myself about how I feel like I put so much effort into assignments and entire subjects in general that most likely won't contribute to my eventual career.

That leads to my second question, how I would change the school system. This year especially, I am feeling quite troubled over the fact that of my 6 classes, my only 2 non ap's (spanish 4 and guitar) are the classes that are most important to me in the grand scheme of my interests and career goals (no offense to your class, of course). Not to say that my 4 APs are useless, but I definitely question the necessity of such a high level of study, for math courses especially, when it isn't going to directly benefit your future career. So if in a perfect world I were to design a school system, I would be intentional from the getgo. In elementary school, the teachers' main goal is to help the kids master basic English and math, which are necessary for life in the real world in any scenario. But towards the end of elementary school and all throughout middle school, the focus is less on educating and more on careful observation of each student to find out what interests them the most and where they show the best and strongest performance in order to help better determine possible career fields for each individual. Then come high school, each student's education is completely individualized, with classes specifically geared towards their future career. In my mind, everyone only needs a basic understanding of each class and should only go further if it will help them reach towards their future career. And of course, a student's schedule can be altered at any time if they find they have an interest in something else or wish to pursue some other career. But if you really think about it, imagine just how much this would decrease the apathy of today's teens for school if they were actually interested in ALL of their classes. It would be so much more productive and beneficial to each student. And it would encourage students to be preparing for their future goals and foster growth in areas that mean the most to students. It just makes so much sense to me!! I only wish I could have had something like this for my education.

Then my last question. My current plans for the future, always subject to change, are to major in Spanish language and study abroad, possibly with a minor in music, and then following college, move to a Spanish speaking country to teach ESL/be a missionary. I have such a passion for people and I absolutely love Spanish culture. When I went to Mexico this summer, I was blown away by the amazing sense of community they share and their openness to talking to everyone they pass by. I would love to be a part of that long term or even short term. If I decide against that, or if I want to do something else after that, I have also considered being a music therapist. Again, passion for people plays a big role in that and music is so central in my life that it would just make sense. No matter what I do, I want to affect other people. I want to be a part of something that is bigger than myself and to be able to see the change, no matter how small. I want to be confident that I didn't just live my life for me, but that I used my talents to the best of my ability to glorify the One who gave them to me.

This relates back to my other two questions, especially the first, because the two classes that most directly affect my future plans are Spanish 4 and guitar, my only two non-AP classes this year. That means most simply that even though I care most about those classes and actually have interest in studying and growing in them, they tend to get pushed to the backburner because of the rigor of AP classes and all that is expected for them. I find it especially hard to apply AP calculus and AP physics to any of my future plans, and I have found it especially hard of late to find motivation to try in these classes.

Alas, despite my lengthy complaints, I still do all the work and study my brains out, if only to get the grades. Am I truly learning the material? More or less. Am I enjoying it? Absolutely not. Is it helping my future? Hard to say. Is it worth it? Ask me in a few years. Will the school system ever change? Lord I hope so.

That is all. For now.