My perspective from a bubble
In my life, everything has come easily. When I needed something, I got it. Even when I wanted something, there was a pretty good chance it would be handed straight to me. And so even though I never asked for a diamond necklace or demanded designer clothing, I still think I'm spoiled. And when I look around at my rich ass high school, I can probably assume correctly that the majority of students here are just as spoiled as I am. How am I sure? Three words: "I hate school".
You hear it everyday in the halls, from your friends or just a passerby. At first, I was one of those haters. It seemed that all my teachers were out to get me; assigning papers and tests at the worst times. And with late night homework endeavors and early morning wake up calls, how could I not despise the thing behind all this madness? Not to mention all the useless information being spat at me. Honestly, why do I care how to graph inverse functions or which Chinese leader invaded Mongolia?
Since then I've realized the privileges given to me. I've been able to see that learning for the sake of learning is one of the coolest things you could ever do. Not only that, I get to attend one of the best public high schools in the country. Early in 2007, Oprah Winfrey opened her school in South Africa. This caused uproar from people who believed that Oprah should have opened a school in the U.S. Winfrey's reasoning behind this was that kids in America would not appreciate the privilege as much as those in Africa. Oprah in many ways was right, but it is time we proved her wrong.
I expected things to come my way easily because it's what I've been used to my whole life. So when I was faced with things that challenged me or were something I didn't want to do, I was annoyed. It's true that this feeling is inevitable, but life is not going to come without adversity. And our version of adversity is laughable compared to others.
Living in Massachusetts suburbia can sometimes feel like living in a bubble. It's a very nice bubble, full of Democrats, iPhones and Whole Foods. There are TVs and newspapers to keep us in contact with the world around us, but these things don't truly give perspective. When everyone around you is the same, it's hard to remember that there are huge disparities in the world. Maybe to you the cramped yellow buses aren't up to par, but they get us to school and back everyday. And maybe your art room doesn't have all the supplies you need, but it's pretty awesome that our school offers us classes like art and music.We all feel bad for underprivileged people living in poverty without nutrition or schooling, but what do we end up doing? We say "I hate school" and push those underprivileged kids further away. If you hate school so much, why don't you hand it over to someone who would do anything to trade places with you?
My high school is so ungrateful because all we know is our school. We grow up happy and warm and fed in a quiet, heated home. We attend soccer and ballet classes. We are nurtured in and out of elementary school. Teachers and parents continue hold our hands even through middle school. Then we are promptly pushed into high school where we already have an advantage over other public schools because of its academic reputation. We practically live in luxury. So we think 'why should we have to wake up early and stay up late over the most boring history textbook ever written?'.
Of course, I'm generalizing here, because there are definitely people at my school who have gone through hard times and appreciate school for what it is, but when I see a preppy girl in a Juicy sweat suit holding a Starbucks coffee complaining, it honestly makes me sick.
Sure, it's only natural to complain a little. And sure, waking up at 6:30 every morning isn't exactly what I'd call fun. It sounds a little corny to be half-glass-full all the time, but why can't we be? When at a school like my own, it's easy to forget how lucky we are. So next time you're about to mutter those senseless three words, just take a second to remember.
You hear it everyday in the halls, from your friends or just a passerby. At first, I was one of those haters. It seemed that all my teachers were out to get me; assigning papers and tests at the worst times. And with late night homework endeavors and early morning wake up calls, how could I not despise the thing behind all this madness? Not to mention all the useless information being spat at me. Honestly, why do I care how to graph inverse functions or which Chinese leader invaded Mongolia?
Since then I've realized the privileges given to me. I've been able to see that learning for the sake of learning is one of the coolest things you could ever do. Not only that, I get to attend one of the best public high schools in the country. Early in 2007, Oprah Winfrey opened her school in South Africa. This caused uproar from people who believed that Oprah should have opened a school in the U.S. Winfrey's reasoning behind this was that kids in America would not appreciate the privilege as much as those in Africa. Oprah in many ways was right, but it is time we proved her wrong.
I expected things to come my way easily because it's what I've been used to my whole life. So when I was faced with things that challenged me or were something I didn't want to do, I was annoyed. It's true that this feeling is inevitable, but life is not going to come without adversity. And our version of adversity is laughable compared to others.
Living in Massachusetts suburbia can sometimes feel like living in a bubble. It's a very nice bubble, full of Democrats, iPhones and Whole Foods. There are TVs and newspapers to keep us in contact with the world around us, but these things don't truly give perspective. When everyone around you is the same, it's hard to remember that there are huge disparities in the world. Maybe to you the cramped yellow buses aren't up to par, but they get us to school and back everyday. And maybe your art room doesn't have all the supplies you need, but it's pretty awesome that our school offers us classes like art and music.We all feel bad for underprivileged people living in poverty without nutrition or schooling, but what do we end up doing? We say "I hate school" and push those underprivileged kids further away. If you hate school so much, why don't you hand it over to someone who would do anything to trade places with you?
My high school is so ungrateful because all we know is our school. We grow up happy and warm and fed in a quiet, heated home. We attend soccer and ballet classes. We are nurtured in and out of elementary school. Teachers and parents continue hold our hands even through middle school. Then we are promptly pushed into high school where we already have an advantage over other public schools because of its academic reputation. We practically live in luxury. So we think 'why should we have to wake up early and stay up late over the most boring history textbook ever written?'.
Of course, I'm generalizing here, because there are definitely people at my school who have gone through hard times and appreciate school for what it is, but when I see a preppy girl in a Juicy sweat suit holding a Starbucks coffee complaining, it honestly makes me sick.
Sure, it's only natural to complain a little. And sure, waking up at 6:30 every morning isn't exactly what I'd call fun. It sounds a little corny to be half-glass-full all the time, but why can't we be? When at a school like my own, it's easy to forget how lucky we are. So next time you're about to mutter those senseless three words, just take a second to remember.