Right, senior year. I cannot imagine the connotations that bring us back to senior year. It is a replay of the past three years on slow-motion, the point at which you realize that all this is such a joke. We've studied and cried and laughed and rejoiced just to get to this point, the brink of realization at which we recognize that SATs scores are such bogus and a man-made creation, that in no way, measures our intelligence nor readiness for bigger and better things. It is the point at which grades appear so superficial and completely determinate upon the rigidness of the instructor, the point where personality plays no part, nor do extra-curricular activities. Sometimes, achievement does not mean a successful future or ambition or means to advance in this world. Surely, we are exposed to more elaborate concepts of dwelling in this universe that focuses on hard statistics.
I feel like our society (notably my environment) is an amoeba, so concentrated and self-absorbed that we fail to recognize that in our ever-expanding universe, we are less than a pixel on a computer screen, a single stroke in a painting. There are a billion worlds out there with a vast array of creatures that could care less that we exist, that we invented electricity, that we have blogs. And, we state that our biggest concern is to get into that one perfect, ideal college? Have we forgotten that we steer our education? That God created transfers? That we don't need a resume filled with golden schools to be deemed as important? What happened to organic living?
I agree that education is the most important part of our lives, it is our profession, basically. But I feel that the stress of scheming and plotting is so beyond ridiculous. What we fail to realize is that there is an entirely different world beyond our own. Imagine Africa, or Asia, or Europe, or South America, or even our own country. There are so many children who only wish to complete elementary school, and we're so enthusiastic about getting into the dream school? Noted, I was one of them. Yes, I still have the statistics memorized in my head, 25-75% SAT ranges, % of kids in top 10% of class, admittance %, most important application items for every college and beyond (I practically memorized ,starting in August, the Top 50 Best National Universities and Best Liberal Arts Schools according to US News and World Report 2010). But now I realize getting rejected from a school only creates a loophole for transferring. Kids, it's not the end of the world!!
My maternal grandmother never had a formal education. In all actuality, I'm not even sure she completed middle school. It is kind of zen to be exempt from the excessive competition of high school, it allows us to meditate on our lives. But then again, I pity her. All the new concepts that I've learned throughout the years have enlightened so greatly, and it's sad to think she was never exposed to such institutions.
My father graduated at the top of his prestigious high school, in which many of his classmates attended MIT as a graduate. Sure, A-levels possessed most of his time and sure, competition was tough among classmates, but in retrospective, he tells me that those individuals, those Einsteins, are just normal people today.
It's simply eye-opening.
