ideas (thoughtful and less so)

As I discuss my various activities on college applications, I am concerned about how admissions committees will view some things. One of my concerns is that people often do not understand the value of the internet. The will see how much time I spend, for example, blogging, and I’m worried that they will take blogging, which is hugely interactive, as being shut up alone in my bedroom. Yes, I am alone here, physically, but I am making connections with people all over the world, discussing everything from books to education to politics to, well, anything you can think of. My interactions with people on the internet are often far more worthwhile than the real-world conversations I have at my school lunch table, which often focus on things like who’s dating who or what happened in band class (almost all of my school friends are self-proclaimed band geeks; I have not one bit of musical talent).

I do spend quite a bit of time in front of a computer screen, and I know this can be seen as mind-numbing, antisocial, any number of negative things. However, a computer and an internet connection are tools that can be used in a number of ways. It is a bit mind-numbing and antisocial, not to mention gross, to spend loads of time looking up porn on the internet. However, that’s one extreme, and certainly not what most people utilize their high-speed connections for (or so I’d like to think).

My internet activities are varied. I write emails and blog posts. I look up news stories. I read blogs on topics from books to fashion to politics. I study languages. I learn about topics that interest me. I search for answers to questions that would be almost unanswerable without this resource! I connect with people across the world. I talk to friends in California, Brazil, and the Philippines.

I use the internet to talk to people whose lives are very different from mine, and I learn from that. I use the internet to improve my communication skills, reading and writing constantly in three languages (English, Spanish, and my often-cringe-worthy French). I use the internet to expand my horizons, to do things I could never have done without it. I use the internet to find information, to form my own opinions, and to share them in what I hope is a relatively articulate manner.

I am concerned by the close-mindedness of some people. I am concerned by the fact that so few activities are considered worthwhile or educational uses of time. I have done most of my learning outside of the classroom, and the internet has facilitated that. Almost anything can be a worthwhile use of time and a learning experience, and I wish that was better understood by most people. (Also see on my book blog: fiction, television, and a previous post on the internet).

I’ve been in the same public school system since my first day of Kindergarten, when I was dragged into the classroom kicking and screaming. I’m now a high school senior eagerly counting the days to graduation. (131 school days, not counting weekends and holidays.)

I don’t think school has taught me much.

That isn’t to say that I don’t know much; I know plenty. Of course, there’s loads more that I don’t know, but isn’t that true for everyone?

However, with the exception of a very small handful of classes, what I have learned has not been in class.

Perhaps some of it has been a result of class; I peruse my textbooks on my own. I don’t necessarily read the required parts at the required times, though. I read what interests me.

I have learned through reading books on my own. Some are what you might call educational. Most are not. I successfully wrote an essay on last year’s AP World History exam (on which I received a 5) using information I’d gotten from fiction.

I have learned through the internet. Just by reading blogs, doing google searches to answer whatever questions occur to me, you know, just general messing around on the internet, I have learned about topics from technology to unschooling.

Which is what I’m about to discuss. I first discovered unschooling, I believe, from Lisa Chellman’s review of Brian Mandabach’s wonderful book …Or Not.

From there, I did my own research into the topic, using books and the internet, and I only wish I’d discovered it earlier in my school career. It seems a bit pointless in my final stretch to wish I’d been unschooled, but I do.

I am curious. I learn on my own. I only wish I could have that much control over my education! I believe in education. I just don’t believe in school. Though I’ve had two classes which are the exception to this rule, school is not about education. School is about test scores. School is about doing as you’re told. School is about not thinking outside the box. School is about conformity.

No, not in all cases–if you’re a teacher reading this and disagreeing, maybe your classroom doesn’t follow these rules. This is a generalization.

In any case, I would love to learn on my own. I would love to have the time to explore all the topics that interest me, rather than memorizing formulas for my chemistry class. Is chemistry important? Yes. But I already knew some of how it worked, just not the technicalities of it. And I figure that, if I had never taken the class, I’d still learn what I need to.

When I have a need or a desire to learn something, I find answers to my questions (of which I have a lot). I think that most people (were they never brainwashed by typical schooling) would be the same.

In general, I do not believe that school has served me well. I used to beg my mother to homeschool me almost daily. She always said I needed socialization. I firmly believe that there are other ways to get that besides going to school. School is not necessary for education or socialization. It’s more of a hindrance to the former. Natural curiosity would serve us well enough, if only our parents would believe that!