by Laura Harmon

Created on: December 25, 2008

Imagine, for the sake of this essay, that you are a high school student. You're not what most people would consider "smart", but you don't belong in a Best Buddies program, either. You're just an ordinary dude who doesn't really like or dislike high school.
This is how a typical school day might "work" for you:
You get up around 7:30. You let the dog out, change into your school clothes, eat some breakfast, brush your teeth, then head out for the bus. It's supposed to pick you up at 8:10, but 80% of the time, it's about ten minutes late. "Traffic's terrible," the bus driver always says.

Because of this, you have less time in homeroom to do your Trig homework, which is really quite unfortunate because you have no idea how to solve logarithmic equations. And because Trig's your first period class, it's unlikely that you'll have time to copy off of anyone before the assignment gets collected.
Yet another 0% in the grade book.
Next stop is World History, where you have a test on events that occurred between 558 and 258 years ago, which you "forgot" to study for. It's worth 30% of your final grade. But it's no big deal; you already have a high-ish grade in the class and you did well on the other two tests, so how hard could this one be, right?
Wrong.
You ask to go to the bathroom so that you can panic in private over the fact that you don't know a single answer, but are told that no, you cannot. Why? Because you haven't finished your test. Perfect.
Luckily for you, your next class is English, which you happen to enjoy. And to make up for the test you just failed, you get an essay you did back with a 95% in the corner and only one or two negative comments scribbled along the edges.
At lunch, you have mac-n-cheese and those little shrimp things that you can never remember the name of. Neither are any good, of course: it's school food.
Your fourth and last class of the day is band. Unfortunately, this is not your choice. Your parents make you do it because apparently a 3.2 GPA and a short stint in the FBLA won't get you into a good college. But band will.
Well, you think, define "good".
And did I mention that you are terrible at band?

On the bus ride home, you rest your head against the window, replaying the day in your head. Replaying every day, really.
And you wonder: Is the school "system" right in making us take four math classes when we realized after one that we were going into a career that is as 'unmath' related as possible? Does being able to do well on a test really make us smart? Is it okay to try our hardest and still not succeed? Are we really being made into the adults that we're expected to become?
All these things are still running through your head as you open your front door, as your mom asks you how your day was. As you eat dinner.
Don't know the answer?
Me either.

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