Valedictorian Erica Goldson speaks out against our current education system. Great reading.

[FormerDittoHead]

http://americaviaerica.blogspot.com/

"... I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared."

I would have to quote too much to highlight the points she goes on to say which I agree with.

I only hope this is the start of a trend of smart people who are willing to put aside their rewards for a couple of minutes to examine the value of what they ended up with, and the price they had to pay to get it.

[Oregone]

1. She doesn't sound like a drone to me

She will be fine. :)

[FormerDittoHead]

4. She thanks ONE teacher for that... Consider that many students don't get that "one" teacher...

my emphasis:

"...if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.

[Oregone]

6. I don't buy it

I doubt that she would of been "doomed" if it wasn't for a single chance encounter. Besides, college is packed full of professors that challenge people to open their minds.

Yes, while some of her analysis of school is very accurate, I think her assessment of her own condition is short-sighted.

I used my own stump time to indict my school and the system when I was her age; I do understand the sentiment

[FormerDittoHead]

9. Consider most people don't go to college.

I HATED high school, but I loved college. Probably for the very reasons discussed here.

I wonder how many don't go to college because they've become so turned off by education by that point. (assuming they're among the 70 percent who actually graduate high school). http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/0609/p02s13-usgn.html

The point I'm making here is that if high school were more like college and less like memorize-this, regurgitate-there, I believe more people would do better both in and out of school.

[Oregone]

10. Most valedictorians do

And I'm questioning her drone-like assessment of herself

[hfojvt]

11. I sorta had the opposite experience

at least I liked high school somewhat better than college. Did professors challenge me and open up my mind in college? Professors were very distant, as I remember it. Unlike the high school teachers, I doubt if I had a professor who even knew my name, or all that much about me. They probably did not even grade my tests. Mostly they stood at the front and droned on about the same things you could read from the textbook. I also found even graduate school to be about - memorize this, reguritate this, much to my dismay.

[WinkyDink]

2. Public school made her a drone? With others "creating music and writing lyrics" in the same school?

Too bad, Erica, that you were such a driven little kiss-arse with all your "extra credit."
Yep, you were just PREVENTED from finding interests to engage your brain; FORBIDDEN to think deeply.

GMAB here. "Sharper than a serpent's tooth....."

[Warpy]

3. Wow. Just wow.

I was one of the kids who said "fuck it" to homework because it cut into my reading time. I graduated with piss poor grades and a Merit scholarship. I remember the class valedictorian as being the kind of grind this young woman describes but which I very much doubt she is.

Somewhere along the line, someone taught her the skills for critical thinking. All she needs to do is learn how to play, also, something she realizes.

She needn't be scared. With her brains and the right amount of luck, she'll end up running the country. Were this a truly merit based country, she would shoot right to the top of the system.

[Odin2005]

5. I agree with her completely.

The current education system is not meant to educate us, it is for making us into loyal corporate drones.

[msongs]

7. too funny - she chose her behaviors and now she is regretting it nt

[mopinko]

8. this is why i homeschooled my kids for 8 years. only sorry

that i couldn't keep it up. when the older kids did go to school, they sucked. now they are in college, and doing great. i think this young lady will enjoy college.