I've ranted about this before, but...
I was keeping the school network running and doing immense amounts of other undocumented volunteer work. Faculty would often simultaneously complain about my grades and ask for a technical favor, usually suggesting I just ignore everyone else's such requests.
But I got a nice service plaque with a school medallion that's off axis by 25 degrees or so. And lost out on a $5k/year National Merit scholarship because my essays, volunteer work, test scores, "selection index," etc didn't seem to match my grades. Nice to know I'm one of about 1 percent of the 15,500 Semifinalists who got dropped for that reason.
In the long run, I probably could've done more good if I'd focused on doing the busywork, instead of stopping once I'd learned the material and using that time to teach myself or help others.
But I was supposedly in the best the school system has to offer. I suppose it worked reasonably for the majority of my classmates, and I understand that the teachers often had their hands tied, or couldn't make exceptions without negatively affecting others' learning. Still, assuming I'm ever in a situation where children are possible, it makes me question what I'll do with them. The US "education" system is more of a day care, keeping the potential delinquents off the streets. And that's the absolute least cynical view of it I have. |
