Our School System Sucks

Growing up as a child, surrounded by intellectuals and advanced peers, it was not uncommon for my brother and me to be found borrowed in the fantasies of magnificent books, imagining to be the great hero or heroine of a breathtaking adventure. Taking home B's were uncommon, and low scores on tests were unthinkable. Most parents would've killed to have their children even glance at a book.

Less than five years pass, and you see me, struggling to even get enough sleep each night. Most high school students will agree and attest to similar scenarios, playful as a kid, stressed as a teenager. Worse of all is my mind frame. Why is it so, that I'd rather skip school during an important test day being unprepared in order to study for the same subject? And, why is it so, that my parent would let me do so?

In what twisted place would students skip school for the sake of school?

America's army is one of the most powerful in the world, and our wealth clearly is demonstrated on magazines you see everyday, yet our schooling system is falling off a cliff, and only a miracle will bring us back. According to Yo Expert, America's public school testing scores are extremely poor in comparison to students in other first world countries. We're not helping ourselves, society tells everyone to form to a mold whether you're rich or poor, black or white, ugly or good-looking. College tuitions are always on the rise. Scholarships are handed out to the few percent of college individuals. The cost of living has risen significantly. And yet we expect to have the same standards for learning?

It isn't the teachers' faults for giving out work to meet the nation's criteria. It isn't the fault of the president, or the students, or the system. It's the fault of the people as a nation. Education isn't how it used to be, and if we keep on pushing unrealistic expectations, the nation will suffer.

Focus on how the students are faring, and do us a miracle. All we want is sleep.

Pringles: "Once you pop, the fun just don't stop."

When asked about your childhood, would one of the following items be in your list?

• Santa Clause/Tooth Fairy/Easter Bunny 
• Nap time
• Snack time/recess 
• Playing sports
• Play dates
• Disney Movies 

If so, your childhood was less than mediocre. Often, individuals skip over the most important aspects of their childhoods- the snacks. My childhood consisted of: Cheetos, ice-cream sandwiches, popcorn, candy bars, and most importantly, Pringles. 

All over the world, people unite over language, religion, and ethnicity to celebrate the joy of a single potato chip called the Pringle. In the busy hustle of adult life, many grown-ups are forgetting to stop and enjoy the tiny aspects of life. Why were we sent to live life if all we did was work and stress about work? The celebratory Pringle allows us to stop stressing about nonsensical things and kick back our legs. The salty crunch of the potato chip brings us back to reminiscence about our childhood experiences, like when we used to stick two chips in our mouths and pretend to be ducks.

Although as stated earlier, Pringles are a potato chip, these delicious chips are actually made from a mixture of corn and potato. Their ingenious design allows for each chip to be stacked upon each other and tightly packed in a can- truly the snack food of the future. Creative snack food scientists have created a magnificent spectrum of flavors, ranging from the common Sour Onion to Blueberry Hazelnut!

I have made it one of my life long goals to try at least 50 new flavors before I die. This also gives me an incentive to travel around the world,where they have unique flavors in different countries. You should try to challenge yourself, too!

Here is a list of different Pringle flavors in other countries; which one is the weirdest? 

• Blueberry Hazelnut: Thailand
• Soft-shell Crab: Singapore
• Keema Curry: Japan
• Steak and Onion Pie: U.K.
• Hong Kong Fish Ball: China
• Paprika: Portugual 
• Onion Crouton Soup: Japan
• Ketchup: Unknown; possibly USA?
• White Chocolate Peppermint: Unknown 
• Tortilla Nacho Cheese: Mexico 

   

Band is NOT a sport.

First of all: Band. Is. Not. The. Same. As. Marching. Band.

Everyday, the Mira Mesa marching band marches outside in the stadium's freezing morning chill, and has individual practice three to four days a week after school for each instrumental section. On average, the band program logs 20 hours of practice and competition each week. But, non-band students always question, is band even a sport? 

In middle school, I would have assuredly said no- "Of course it isn't, all they do is walk and play songs!" However, after going through Mira Mesa's own program, the Sapphire Sound, much of my viewpoint on marching band has changed. By definition, it technically is a sport- "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another for entertainment". As a multi-sport athlete, I say, band is a sport. It's like playing soccer, but only using the toes of your feet to touch the ball, and only being able to move around without bending your knees- yet making the movement look fluid. But don't forget to bend your knees, you could pass out. Wait, what?

Still, majority of people asked will say, "all they do is walk?". Here's to why band is a sport: 

For one, band definitely takes up a hell of a lot of time. Yesterday, all band students went to Mira Mesa High at 5:30 AM, and stayed till 12:30 AM (yes, that's the next day) to hold our annual Mira Mesa Invitational Field Tournament, hosting over 30 high schools that came throughout the day. Not to mention Thursday night rehearsals from 5-9 PM, which leaves everyone scrambling to finish homework. This is the same as 2 AP classes, for me.

The work that actually goes to running a 10 minute show is astounding. This year, the Sapphire Sound's show, Beyond Perimeters, requires the band kids to memorize 80-something "dots", or places on the turf field. And we play music. Hard music. All memorized.

Again, "all they do is walk?" comes into play. We don't walk, we march. We point our toes while marching, clench our core muscles, open up the space between our chest and hips. We lean forward at a 60-40 degree, and breathe with "po" breaths. We, too, get calf cramps and sore feet. Sure, we may not do sprints and agility work, but I assure you, the amount of dedication going into our music and form is at the same of high level athletes. We train and train and train, just like you.

And while your sports team will always have rivalries, someone talking bad about another, we'll say, "good luck with that, bro". We are a family of over 150 people, and are still more united than yours. We go into competitions hours away, and come out strong. We are the Sapphire Sound.

Passion

American society will always be jealous. In the past, the nerd looked in awe to popularity, or that fat girl stared at cheerleaders as they leapt around in lithe bodies. Not much has changed. Everyone looks at each other, and wishes for something that they don't have - particularly success. Think it's too cliche? Think you're different? When was the last time you saw a drink in someone's hand, and wished to have one, too? Or a car?

People ask me: How do you do so many activities? Why do you play the flute? How are you so passionate?

Simply, I'm not that cool or amazing. Instead of asking me some weird, envy filled question, why don't you try it out? 

Passion is slippery. Passion does not click, and is not the best thing to happen to a person. You are not born with passion, nor do people suddenly become gifted with this gift from "God".

When I was in the 3rd grade, the school system still made it an option to take an extra band class, and my mom enrolled my brother and me because she wanted us to try out new activities.

An 8 year old puffing air, like a blowfish, through a clarinet is not the best sound. A group of 8 year olds with expensive musical instruments is not the best sight. For the first two weeks, I huffed and puffed and blew through the little wooden cylinder and could not make a sound. I complained to my mom, certain that I had no musical talent, and my brother was some God-send child who somehow was born to play flute, even though in reality- he sucked.

If it hadn't been for the persistence of my mom, I would have quit years ago. On the contrary, I was forced to work and work and work, until I grew to slightly enjoy that work.  Sometimes I would switch instruments, shake my head, switch again. I finally ended with the flute, and with my horribly out of tune notes, my oblivious self would turn and grin widely at my mom.
"You're great, honey!" "Thanks, I know!"

It wasn't the end. Every turn of the road blocked by another looming monster.

Scales of terror, the great, ugly upper register monster of the music swamp rearing its As, Bbs, and C- learning on a whole different level. But slowly, ever so slowly, with each note I played, each breath I took, every time I synchronized with the beat, a tiny, itty bitty piece of passion would plop down onto my soul. So insignificant were these little raindrops, that only now I realize the important of my strangled notes in late night practices.

So now, people ask me: Why do you play the flute? Why are you in band? How do you have so much passion?

I say, because I like it. So why don't you try it, too?

In Response to "Community Post #1: Exposing Hidden Bias at Google

America is thought to be diverse, but our attitudes say otherwise. It goes past race. In regards to the article, Exposing Hidden Bias at Google, bias in general is a problematic undertone in American society. Initially, in the earlier ages where men obviously triumphed in physical strength, sure, the "physically disabled" women could be expected to sit back and babysit the children- leading to the phrase "it's a man's world." Our attitude towards women working in great jobs is downright dismal. But, now as our world is shifting into an era of technology, shouldn't we be leaving those technical problems in the past?

Take one. America has attempted to tackle racial disparities by overcompensating for minorities, and leaving little for the so called "privileged", seen in college education systems. A horrible solution. Take two. Manjoo writes, men make 83 percent of Google's engineering employees and 79 percent of its managers. Instead of relaxing the hiring process specifically for women, employers should give them a real chance to enjoy working at the company. For a leading company worldwide, Google contantly experiences sexist comments inside the workplace. Why work somewhere you're already expected to turn in unsatisfactory work, and make sandwiches for everyone? 

A women should be judged by skill level, not gender. Scratch that, a person should be judged by skill level, not race or gender. From the article, it is common knowlege that a more diverse team works better and produces higher yielding results. Google, and other global companies have taken that into consideration, and are slowly equalizing the racial ratio. These companies are attempting to push America's attitude to an accepting one, but frankly, it's too slow. We need a dramatic shove in our societies to shock us into the new reality- gender or race won't matter in our technological dawn.