Monday, February 17, 2014

Happy Days

I don't know if any of you remember your school days or if any of you are still IN school, but I am.
It's a lot.
I'll be taking AP calculus next year and my mom says she didn't even take trig by the time she graduated high school. Apparently, Ap's also didn't exist "back in her day" so obviously, times have changed. In my eyes, they've changed for the worse.
All I worry about (or at least have time to worry about) is schoolwork, homework, my grade, my caliber of class, and band (band geek and proud!). Am I learning? Kind of. Am I retaining information? Not really. Will I need to know that the Grand Canal in China was built from 550-610 CE? Probably never. So what's up with our educational system then? My brain is being filled with information I may never need again in the name of being "well-rounded". I'm not learning, I'm taking the highest level of class and trying to get an A. That's what school all comes down to for me: Grades. It has completely lost its original purpose which was to make sure people learn. That intention is still there, but students tend to care more about their grades.
I personally have NO idea of what the future holds for me in terms of a career path, a major in college, or even all of the classes I'm taking next year. All I know is that we teens have WAY too much to worry about and the stress load that we have is exponentially larger than what our parents had when they were our age (I found a GRAY HAIR the other day...I'm 15 and have a gray hair!). And you know who is running the education system? People that are my parents' age. Do they understand that giving us an extra period in our schedule will increase our homework load which will lead to lower grades (most of the kids with bad grades aren't dumb, just too lazy to do homework) and higher stress. How am I supposed to do marching band for 2 hours a week, 2 days a week if I have an extra class to do homework for?
I know this rant is probably pointless and I probably have AP notes to take, but the point is that the people running the system have no idea what it's like to be in school. They ask the opinions of everyone except the students. They don't listen to teachers either, but seriously; high school students should have some say in the matter. Alright, I'm done ranting...here are some things that never cease to make me smile through my school frustrations and everything else that comes my way.

{Bear from wayyyyy back in the day}

{Puppy version of Buster...even when his paws are injured, he's the sweetest not-so-little guy}

{definitely something my dogs would do}

{Can we just appreciate the truth of this statement for a moment?}
{gotta work on this...}
{This is what I do on weekends. It's a nice break from the chaos of the working week}
{The simplest things, like this window, make me smile these days}
{if only...}
{What I WISH I was doing right now...}
{Not too much longer until summer *insert prayer hands emoji here*}

All Pictures
xoxo
Hannah

4 comments:

  1. I hate to warn you, but junior year is worse. I will say being someone who is overly enthusiastic about the education system, that the whole idea is 'big picture thinking' - or so it should be. That we as students should take what we learn and synthesize it and use that in our own lives when we make decisions... I will also say the system is extremely broken, my mom is the same way, even my cousins in their late 20's think it's absolutely insane that I will have taken 5 AP exams (which is considered low at our school) considering their high school only offered 4 total. There is way to much 'teaching to the test' (basically what an AP course is) and you have people like the superintendent who says let's go 1:1 buy 2015 meanwhile the students and teachers are drowning in their current work loads and cringing at the idea of adding more technology...
    I could go on, I hate to be like this but thankfully I will get away from that so so soon, but also being an education major and having a sister still in the 'system' I feel like I still have a lot of stock in said 'system'.
    I also have to feel that our school uniquely places a lot of pressure and stock on AP courses, and especially when they stopped offering G&T courses to match ones that have AP. You're pretty much expected if not required to take AP courses if you want to go college.
    Oh those shoes, did you see Sarah Vickers closet she got for christmas, the pictures of that had me drooling...
    Smile away and memorize when that Suez Canal was built (1869) - I still have no clue why I always remember that date, you will never use that date again!
    With Love, Madylin @ smilesnmiles.com

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    1. One of the things I particularly don't understand is why the superintendant is so bent on the technology aspect. LITTLE KIDS DON'T NEED LAPTOPS!!! I don't know, as much as I dread college and the "real world", I cannot wait until I no longer have to deal with the ridiculousness of public schooling.
      OMG i know! Her closet is gorgeous! She's a lucky girl...
      I was actually watching Lawrence of Arabia the other day and the Suez canal was mentioned and I just shouted out "1869!!" and my family all shot me strange looks but I felt pretty proud for remembering that...
      Oh well, c'est la vie
      xoxo
      Hannah

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  2. Oh sweetie, it's so worth it! I hate to say this, but it really is. I used to go to a really hard school where they taught us lots of things , a huge part of which seemed to be (and probably were) useless, but they've all contributed to a really good education that I got out of it in the end, so just be strong for now and you'll see that it will all pay off, I promise :)
    xx

    http://bellapummarola.blogspot.it/

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    1. I'm hoping it does turn out to be useful! Thank you for a more grown-up view on the matter :)
      xoxo
      Hannah

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