Essential Question Response: School and Goals

Essential Question: What will make me happy? / What is in my future?

As you have probably figured out by now, I am a geek. And as such, I enjoy school-- probably a lot more than I should (note: please know that 'school' does not entail the daily torture session known as 'math'). There are many, many reasons why I love my school as much as I do.

One of the first reasons is, of course, friends. When I'm hanging out at the Alley, it isn't hard to be happy-- my friends can always make me laugh, even if I've had a bad day, done not-so-great on a test, or just read Pirates of the Caribbean spoilers saying that my favorite character is going to die in the third movie. People at the Alley are generally random, insane, and very illogical ("I am from Canada, and my eyes are brown. Therefore, cheese."), so it's difficult to be bored. Over the year, people at the Alley have decorated for Halloween and Christmas, played foursquare, played Tackle Frisbee, played Trombone, participated in 'How to be a Ninja' Tutorials, been fire hazards, glomped and been glomped, had dance- and sing-alongs to inane songs on iPods, gotten sugar high, organized and participated in Easter egg hunts... the list goes on and on. And though, of course, friends have been depressed and bad things have happened, we pull through and keep laughing.

Another thing I love about my school (which name shall not be mentioned in the unlikely event that someone reading this is a stalker) is the opportunities it offers. There are clubs, teams, organizations, brilliant teachers, a huge array of really interesting classes (which I unfortunately do not have enough time to take), plays, performances, community service opportunities, and so on. I love the feeling of knowing that though I may not be able to take advantage of it all, there will always be new people to meet and something new and enjoyable for me to do.

But of course, much as I enjoy my friends and classes (not math), school does have its downs. Stress is rampant, and though I rarely break down, I definitely get upset what with homework, tests, and the pressure about grades. When I first came to my school in fifth grade, I viewed a C as OK. My perspective-- influenced by friends and teachers-- has changed drastically. Here is a grading rubric that shows the mindset of the average overachiever in my school:

A = Acceptable
B = Bad
C = Crap
D = Doomed
F = Find a new school

I have not gotten to this point yet, but I'm getting close. Sometimes this mindset seems very appropriate and reasonable, and sometimes it freaks me out. Yes, part of me misses the days when a C truly was average. But while I do think that laughter is essential to everyday life, so is perseverance, responsibility, and intelligence. All of that is reflected in grades-- which in turn play a huge role in the future. Grades now will determined what classes I take later, what my grades will be in the future, what college I get into, and what job I end up with. Everything starts here, and I'm sure I speak for my fellow geeks when I say that I don't want anything lower than an 'Acceptable' future.

Essential Question Response: After College

Because Essential Questions are made for the purpose of figuring out who we are, they-- like us-- can change at any time. So I decided to temporarily change my second essential question to 'What is in my future?' That is the question I am responding to now.


Although I'm a Freshman, I often think about college, and what comes after. I don't know what college I want to go to (although I do want to go out-of-state), but I think I know what I want to do afterwards. I really love my school, and I want to come back and teach here after college. I'd love to teach a history or English course, and I'd love to be involved in the school's band even if my marching days are over. This school is one of my favorite places in the world, and coming back here would be like coming home. I'm someone who places great value in opportunity. I love going to a big school because of the countless things you can do, classes you can take, and people you can meet. Teaching here could open up even more oppurtunity than being a student.

Of course I will probably change my mind-- it's too long a time with too much happening for me to think that I'll be the same after I graduate as I am now. And even if I don't change my mind about teaching, I may want to work at a college (as my friend Herena said, "No! Don't be a teacher! Be a professor! Teachers are mortals.").

But I do know that after graduating I would like to come back to my home state and live there-- where the weather is nice like the people-- and I'll be home: close to family, and if I still want to, able to teach at my high school.