High School vs. College

High school, like for many, was not a memorable time for me. It was actually the worst four years of my life, rather than teaching me about English and literature, I learned about the wonders of a common high school boy and how to professionally open a jammed locker. When you're in high school, graduating seems impossible. The SATs are a complete waste of time but are the main reason for stress for most students. The SATs determine so much yet factor in so little as to the diversity of education and the fact that everyone learns and interprets things differently. But that's something for another time.

Everything you learn in high school, at least in my point of view, is a complete waste of time. No. I'm not saying drop out or do poorly. I'm telling you to prepare yourself. Of course, the better you do in high school, the higher chances you have into getting better scholarships and getting into better schools that can really make a difference when it comes to looking for a job. However, the second you take your first college classes, you realize that they either reteach everything in a matter of days or they completely wipe that out and teach you about a whole new world of learning.

College is liberating, not necessarily in a good way. Theres definitely a huge difference in work load and stress control but it's completely different than high school. Everything I've learned in college has nothing to do with high school, at all. College is a world of its own, and high school can't prepare you for that until your there. The people, professors, and classes all change. You don't have to conform to a social group and you don't need to be labeled, you get to just roam around being you.

High school was stressful for me, and even though I tried my best, my SATs did a lot more. I'm the worst test taker, so of course the SATs to me seem like the dumbest thing to base someone's intelligence off of. In high school, they make you work everyday for a test at the end of the week, then you take a few tests that matter a little more and you're done. High school used to be a place where kids were free to learn and at their own pace. Now they just want to meet deadlines, no hate towards teachers though because those who have to follow these strict guidelines still find way that actually do help students move on.

College reminds me of what high school should be like. There's variety, although you have to take required classes, you are given the opportunity to choose from different classes that may appeal to you more than the others. In college, teachers are not as miserable because they get to teach without having a million board of ed members beaming down on them making sure they follow the curriculum.

Education recently seems like a trap nowadays. Suddenly your best is never good enough and you have to get better, otherwise you get left behind. Kids have to compete with each other for the same opportunities just to learn about what they want. We've all become a number in the system. Suddenly there are PARC tests and SAT tests that can ruin a kid who has only ever gotten perfect grades. I used to like to learn, then once I realized I had to learn only to test on a subject and then completely switch to another, I realized it was all a joke.