Education

Education motivates millions of students each year. Education is an important part of every politician's platform. Education is a privilege not granted to every child that deserves it. Education is costing me thirteen thousand dollars a year. Poor Education nearly made me give up on the whole institution altogether. The promise of a great Education kept me going.

I went to Warren Hills Regional High School in Washington, New Jersey. It was a reasonably sized school, one that serviced eight different towns yet had very little diversity. Seven of the eight towns in my school district consisted of farmland, the last one housed several "rough" neighborhoods and kids that your parents wouldn't want you to play with. Warren Hills was a school made for white, male athletes (preferably football) who had no real aspirations to leave Washington or go to college. It did not matter how much money you had or which of the eight towns you were from, what mattered was how well you could blend in with what was deemed "normal".  I was the exception to every stereotype that the school tried to place on me. I relished in the "otherness" that was me during my awkward teens. I was loved by the teachers because I spoke up in class discussions and was able to make them laugh with my often biting, sarcastic wit. I did not have a set group of friends. The more I grew up, the more determined I was to leave my small-minded home town. It was ten that I realized that I had little in common with the students around me.

My high school, according to Jean Anyon, would be dubbed "Working Class". We were taught in a highly mechanical fashion, and it was rare to find a teacher that didn't insult your intelligence or immediately put you to sleep. We were given the basics of whatever subject was assigned by the totalitarian administration and not much else. The broader concepts were never addressed. As students we never got to question why something occurred or how. We were simply expected to blindly accept whatever the teacher's spat out at us. And if we didn't understand the material, asking for help was not discouraged, but it was not proved either.
I remember being told once by a teacher in my AP US History class that I was too passionate and that I needed to tamper my creativity and exercise control in my writing. I was writing a response to one of Susan B. Anthony's feminist essays, and I was proud of the words that i'd put onto paper. But, my teacher Mr. O'Brian didn't share my enthusiasm. It was one of those moments that seem insignificant to anyone else but you. I have never altered anything I have ever said to make other people more comfortable. That was what my high school was like. Choking the intellectual, creative lifeblood of the more artistic students so that the majority could breathe easy. After spending my whole life in this school system, it motivated me to find my passion, art, and hold onto it. I am determined not to let anyone stop me or change me.
Say what you want about Warren Hills, but it gave me an out--and helped me get accepted to Cedar Crest. I may not have gone to the football games or been a "Blue Streak" but, I can love my school for getting me to college at least.