Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Will New Trier Make Me Happy?
Most kids at New Trier are good students. They try their best, they do their homework, they get A's in honors and "high honors" classes, and they don't ask questions. The majority of my peers will graduate from a four year college, live in the city for 2-5 years, marry at around 30, have 2.5 children and a dog, settle down in their suburban homes for the remainder of their lives, and die. And to many that seems like a good life plan. The question I pose may seem obvious but it never even occurs to many: am I, and will I be, happy? I've thought about this a lot in the past but it has really been at the forefront of my brain this year so far, along with thoughts of homework, junior theme, college acceptance, and so on and so forth. A question I've begun asking myself when I sit down every night to tirelessly complete my homework is, will doing this extra hour of french homework make me any happier? The answer I've been repeatedly coming to is no. Completing my homework will not make me happy. Yes, I would rather have an extra hour every night to practice music and read rather than get an A instead of a B in science. No, learning that "cos^2(x)=1-sin^2(x)" will not benefit me whatsoever. Yes, I would rather have another 20 minutes to eat lunch than meet with my adviser about college applications. And, perhaps most importantly, no, becoming an engineer and making upwards of 100k every year will not make me automatically happy. What makes me happy is playing and listening to music, travelling, laughing with my friends, informing myself of the events of the world. When do we learn about those in school? Are we being armed with tools with which to lead a pleasurable life, or a successful one, and is there a difference?
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I think what you are trying to get at is the fact that most schools, regardless of location, size, funding etc. struggle to really connect with students to make learning fun. I think this really does fall on the teachers. If you cant get a student involved in your learning than what is the point of teaching it. If the only conversations in class have to do with the class itself, then kids tend to be disinterested rather quickly. School should be fun and mentally stimulating but I think in recent years, the focus has been put more on test scores and grades rather than really enjoying the subjects.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you've said here, but more than "making learning fun" (which is harder than it sounds,) I'm trying to reinforce the idea of focusing high school curriculum around what students need to be happy rather than successful. Even though enjoying your classes is important, the classes themselves are part of the problem. You can make advanced trigonometry as "fun" as you'd like, but that doesn't make it any more practical or crucial to my lifelong goal of being happy.
DeleteYa im going to have to disagree with you. New Trier does have a TON of classes of special interest to offer. They have classes in financial management to fashion design (i think) and everything in between.
DeleteI see your point, but let's say that I'm interested really interested in fashion. I spend all of my spare time outside of school doing fashion related activities and I take the one fashion class that New Trier offers (though this idea applies to all high schools, not just NT.) If I know that I want to pursue a fashion career, why should I have to take advanced science, math, english, and history classes for four years? It's understandable to desire basic information in those fields, but learning trig will NOT help me become a fashion major. Wouldn't you agree that's a waste of time?
DeleteYes i totally agree. The issue is that although its possible for some people to know what they already want to do with their lives when they are 16-18 years old, it usually isnt that common and the regular math, science, history and english classes tend to be needed in order to go to a place of higher learning
DeleteSure, which is why though classes should be available, but not mandatory.
DeleteThis was super interesting for me, because I've had the same thoughts for a while, Preston.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that regardless of what one believes is a waste of time, it is not as if school is not beneficial towards one's happiness. I'm totally with you on everything you've said here but I feel like... you don't have to be an engineer. Who says you did? I haven't grown up in this area as I assume most everyone has, so maybe it's a little different of a mindset that the school district here has instilled in everyone. But I feel like you can do whatever you want. Go ahead. No one's stopping you. The one hour of French homework is just something you gotta do if you want a good grade in French. It's life. If you don't want that, don't do it. Stop trying. Simple. Sometimes I have skipped homework because of music commitments or other commitments, and it affects me only slightly. I just tell myself that this stage of life is one of great importance, but 10-20 years from now, it's likely I will remember little. Preston, if you want to go to school and study music (if you feel like you want to go to school at all) then do it. I might. As for how we learn such in school... I am exposed to happiness everyday. But that is up to the individual. There are so many clubs that discuss these things of interest. We have access to a ton of resources to research and discuss events of the world. People take school for granted, I think. It is a stage in your life where you are constantly forced to be around people. This is crucial to one's development as a person. As well as it allows for many happy events. Ultimately, I think that we are fortunate for what our school has, and need to use it to our advantage. You answered your own question about what makes you happy. All you have to do is carry it out. I repeat, I believe it's up to the individual.
I see what your trying to say Reilly, which is that school is something you have to "get through" to get to what's important to you, and that you can involve yourself in what you enjoy outside of school. What I'm saying is that it shouldn't be this way. I shouldn't have to spend 8 hours a day (often more with homework) 5 days a week for four years filling my brain with useless knowledge. If I know what I want to do with my life, why should I be forced into this cookie-cutter curriculum of english, math, science, and history which are REQUIRED to graduate from NT? I think being forced to do things I hate every day takes a serious toll on my happiness.
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DeleteThis is a rather late reply-- sorry for that! But that's not what I was really trying to say. I was trying to say that we are provided with many opportunities to make ourselves happy within our schools as well. But I totally get what you're saying, regardless of what I meant.
DeleteHi...I'm a Northwestern student from Professor O'Connor's class. He told us to check out his students' blogs so here I am. :)
ReplyDeleteEven as an adult, I often ask myself the same questions -- how is writing a 10-paged paper or completing tedious tasks for work supposed to make me happier? Well, one conclusion that I've come to is that life is what you make of it. A boring task could become a meaningful one if you see it as a way to grow or learn about something new. I could choose to hate school work, or see it as a chance to challenge myself, do something I wouldn't otherwise do, step outside of my comfort zone, meet different people. I guess what I'm saying is that happiness is ultimately something you choose, rather than something that simply happens to you. As a teacher in training, though, I will keep your post in mind and make sure that the teaching I do in the future will not only help my students develop academically, but as a person.
Gloria
Hey Gloria, thanks for taking the time to comment! While I completely agree that some school work can be novel and challenging (perhaps more so when in college,) I will again refer to the example that have given in my post and some of my comments about the trigonometry. Not only do I dislike math, but I am being asked to comprehend skills that very few people, and especially those like myself who plan on pursuing a career in the arts, will ever use. So the question I would ask you is: should arbitrary and impractical skills be learned simply for "challenge" and "growth?"
DeleteI think the idea is to give you an exposure or a taste of many different knowledge areas before you choose what you want to specialize in, so that you can be a jack of all trades to some extent. Trig would be relevant to some math/science-related fields (e.g. engineering), but you're right that it's not too useful for someone who wants to pursue the arts. As an English major, I haven't touched a calculator since high school, except to calculate things like tips or bills. This then leads to other questions: How much exposure should we have to subjects that we don't necessarily like, and how early should we be able to choose our specializations?
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