No Extra Credit in Life

Why is my generation, and those following mine, so incapable of doing anything simply for the benefit of doing it? Thanks to standardized testing, extra credit, and a definite heir of laziness, so many young people today have so little drive to accomplish anything for themselves.

We have been conditioned to strive for good grades in school, to fulfill requirements that will in turn get us a good mark on a report card. Instead of going to an art museum to see great works of art for ourselves and connect to what we're being taught in the classroom, we go to get a few extra points on a piece of paper. But that piece of paper will only matter for so long. Our lives will matter infinitely, not just until they end, but on through the lives of generations following us.

School, especially high school, has become nothing more than a few hours a day where kids are forced to listen to someone talk to them about things they think we will never matter to them, rather than a place to go to better understand the world around them, the human condition, and eventually themselves. So many kids go because they are forced, because it's expected, but why not go because at the end of the day, no matter how trivial it might seem to learn about a war that took place hundreds of years ago or a simple math problem, every bit of knowledge you can gain and store somewhere in the back of your minds truly will benefit you as a human.

What happens when these kids get out into the working world, assuming they make it that far, and suddenly they aren't receiving gold stars and continuous high praise from their bosses? They can't rely on praise or good grades from someone to live their lives. Yes, there will always be someone to be held accountable to, that's just the way the world works. But at the end of the day you should be making yourself a better person not because someone is forcing you to but because you want to be.

I hope I don't sound all high and mighty, that's not how this is meant. I'm guilty of this very problem, especially when I was in high school. I'm a part of this same society, but I'm learning from my mistakes. Unfortunately even in the world of college I see people my age, younger and older, who are still just barely getting by doing the bare minimum. It's so sad. JUST DO YOUR BEST! GIVE IT YOUR ALL & PUT IN EXTRA TIME AND EFFORT! It will pay off in the end! It's so frustrating to see so many people completely trashing all of the amazing opportunities handed to them. This is our chance to suck up all the knowledge we possibly can before we enter the high pressure work world! Why can't everyone see that they need to take advantage of that? It's frustrating to me.

Didn't mean for this to turn into such a negative post! Props to everyone out there who is giving life their all, extra credit or not! It will pay off in the end!

Comments