Today's Rant Against Life (Not a Movie)

"Hello world, hope you're listenin', forgive me if I'm young or speaking out of turn.." -Onerepublic

There's a difference between a challenging liberal arts education and an impossible schedule of busy work and unexplained reports. A challenging liberal arts education is difficult, yes, but people do succeed in it. Though hard work and focus, it is possible to do well. It is possible.

But 13 pages of busy work on subjects we haven't covered yet?
Review games that cover the one chapter not on the test?
Perfectly clear syllabi made completely nonsensical by last minute changes and additions?
I understand that some people are not detail-oriented. I get that. But there is a level of common sense that comes with being a successful teacher that means you don't kill your students with homework one week and give them nothing the next. You learn the pronunciations of the bloody words if you're going to call yourself a foreign language teacher. You plan your lectures before hand and either write comprehensive notes on the board or don't write anything. Smushed gibberish on a third of the board doesn't really help me learn the material!

A particular teacher I've had in the past was very successful. He knew his subject. He commanded absolute respect from everyone, even the rowdiest boys. He knew how to draw the best writing out of each of his students. Of course, the fact that he was an ex-Marine might've had something to do with the respect he commanded. That and the fact that he made troublemakers do push-ups.

Another teacher I've had in the past had a completely different style, but was still fantastic. She was a friend as well as an authority figure. She, too, commanded absolute respect. Swift reprimands cowed anyone who dared talk back and, in most cases, they never tried it again. And she knew her subject and she knew how to teach. For instance, one week we were required to read an entire book of difficult material. Literally a month ahead of time, she began reminding us every day that it was coming up and encouraged us to work ahead. It spurred many students to success.

Of course, some difficult students have are not the teacher's fault. Some students procrastinate. Some have learning disabilities. Some go out of town or get sick or have a family emergency or have a headache or got no sleep the night before or have a different learning style or just really don't care and haven't cared in so long that they don't remember how to care anymore because all they want is a couple hours of sleep uninterrupted by an alarm or the ability to go to movies and see friends without that crushing pressure of an extensive to-do list when it seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day to get work done and do it well and also somehow survive.

The expectations set on high school students these days are tremendous. Perfection is the new excellence and excellence is the new average. And some people achieve perfection. But at what cost? Backpacks stuffed with heavy books often cause back and shoulder pain. I'm sitting here writing this and it feels like the muscles in my shoulders have been tied in ever tighter knots. Nights spent without sleep because of homework...And not even because of procrastination. Some people could work steadily starting at 9 AM and not finish until 4 the next morning. I'm one of those people.

It cracks me up* when people assume that my life is easy because I'm homeschooled.
"Oh, so you get to sleep in?"
"So you just do whatever you want all day!"
"Man, I wish I was homeschooled! I'd watch TV all the time."

No. No. You don't, because you wouldn't.

Maybe in 10 years, I'll look back and say, "Wow, I'm really glad I took those classes and persevered through them."
But right now? I want to dig a tunnel underground and line it with whatever this sweater is made out of and just sleep for a month. I want to stop feeling completely overwhelmed all the time. I just want to live.



*Read: does not crack me up.


Note: This isn't the way it is all the time. This is the way it was today.