The Silent Number

Posted: 2010-01-02

My gap year has been going well, but i've decided to apply to school at Hampshire College. here's the essay i sent in. Let me know what you think and feel free to tear it apart =]

Thoughts on school 

I'm not sure when it happened; perhaps it was a gradual transition. By the time I reached my senior year of high school, I had developed a passionate dislike for my educational experience. While my interest in school declined, my love of learning did not, and I sought education outside the classroom. My feelings are not just some slacker's discontent. They are a burning opposition to the unfair and ineffective education model, a model which has lacked any substantial innovation since its inception in ancient times. Being confronted with the increasing pressure to do what every high school student is expected to do has forced me to be able to articulate and reconcile my thoughts toward modern institutionalized education. I did not let my opposition to this system stop me from applying to college in order to try to improve it and gain what experience I can.

A fundamental problem with this conventional approach to education is concisely summed up in two lines of dialogue from Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle.

"Self-taught, are you?" Julian Castle asked Newt.
"Isn't everybody?" Newt inquired.

From my perspective, school often got in the way of its own purpose. Contrary to the popular quote attributed to Mark Twain, I felt unable to keep from letting schooling get in the way of my education. Meaningless letters on pieces of paper were no motivation for me as I watched many students cheat their way through school. In this place, success was determined not by capability or effort, but by willingness and ability to play the game better than everyone else. Students, teachers, and undoubtedly the administration were all aware that the entire system is a game. How can this be a widely accepted reality? Conformity to an unnatural learning environment should not be a primary factor in one's academic success.

I learned much more from pursuing my own interests outside of school than I ever did from sitting in a classroom. Class assignments seemed to be for someone else's approval, rather than for the learning experience. I devoted most of my time instead to projects outside of school. I was able to become more than just a consumer. I became a creator. I contributed countless hours to various projects by writing or creating materials, and maintained a somewhat well-read blog, which even provided me with a small income. The people who I have been able to reach out to, from an executive at a Fortune 500 company to nomadic radical activists, have broadened my perspectives and served as invaluable connections. Outside of school, I motivated myself to work tirelessly, but in school the subjects which would normally interest me were forced upon me.

Nobody should be expected to force themselves to conform to this inadequate schooling system. A system should conform to the needs of those subject to it, not contrariwise. A government should conform to its people, a school to its students, a prison to its prisoners. Otherwise, the system is just a mold producing molds.

I don't claim to know exactly how the ideal school system would be designed, or even if such a thing exists, but I do believe our age-old system fails to fulfill the needs of students. Take grades, for example. Should they be based on quality or perhaps effort? How can they be kept accurate and unbiased? Even more basic than grades is the question of what purpose do schools serve. My own Newton North High School avoids this question in their mission statement with the empty slogan "Learning sustains the human spirit". Should schools be producing skilled workers, good citizens, or freethinking creatives Should the curriculum be broad or narrow? The generally accepted purpose, however vague it may remain, seems to be to prepare pupils for "the future". Yet, in a world which is continuously changing drastically, this seems to be the wrong job for a stagnant institution which has always been stuck, rooted in the past. It may not be possible to find answers to all of these questions, but a solution that answers none of them is not a solution at all. Education needs to be rethought from the ground up, keeping all of these questions in mind in order to effectively reinvent the structure of the system.

Deciding to apply to college has forced me to balance my ideals. When I was a young child, I made a promise to myself and embarked on an ambitious mission. I would better myself in order to better the world. I would strive to have the greatest possible positive impact; from a global level down to every individual I would encounter. I have been torn between rejecting outright a system that propagates an unhealthy reliance on meaningless standards, or taking advantage of the system in order to oppose it. My decision to apply is to keep the opportunity open for me. My desire to attend is not to acquire some degree, but for my own experience in order to fulfill my promise. I can not be confident that I will be accepted, but I can be confident that I will always make the most of my learning opportunities.