HW40

Interview #1:

I asked my father what his experience in high school was like and although not a word for word response, this was his general feeling:

High school for me was a time to figure shit out, you come out of middle school thinking you run the place and get humbled by the seniors of high school. High school served as a period for me to learn about myself. My parents getting divorced did not help the situation out. I don't like to share it but I dropped out midway through my sophmore year. At the time it seemed like the best thing to do. I had a car and was in a band so it felt right leaving school. My parents were not for it but at this point they had little hope left in me. Schools seemed too repetitive. Everyday I would come in and do the same thing over and over, and if that wasn't repetitive enough, I had to repeat 9th grade and learn the material over. I wish I could say more about my high school experience, but I just wasn't there long enough to have the full experience. Oh, and I definitely was not a jock.

Interview with Soccer coach on what it takes to be successful in school:

You have to understand that school in about earning things. You have to see school as a chance and privilege rather than something you are forced to do. School is an opportunity to make something great out of your life. To have the things you want. No school can force you to want it. It is mostly internal. Now of course the school you are at can help you but you need to have the drive and ambition. My father used to always tell me " if ambition could be forced on someone, you would be the smartest kid in the world" It means that I was very smart but I was lazy and did not really want it. You look back the rest of your life with regret on not working hard enough in school. It is the most straightforward way or path to have a good life. You need to put in your share of work. It is not the teachers job to be on your back, you have to get your shit done.

Interview with out of school friend on testing

I dont think its right at all. You work and work through high school with hopes of making it into the best possible college and the majority of it is a make or break test they call the SAT. It comes down to 4 hours of testing that will be the biggest factor in a lot of schools admission. You fuck up here, and you can kiss your parents ivy league goodbye. Two words loom in your head. Safety School. How does the college know that my school is harder to get an A+ than at another. I work to get A's in Sociology where other kids merely sit in English class and text there way through the week. The process is so completely rigged.

Asking sister in Germany why she thinks school started:

This is a stupid question yet it is kind of interesting. School was probably started to teach people skills they need for life. Which is ironic because that is what we should be learning today. I think school now is just too norm for people to not send there kids there. Without it parents dont see a solid second option. Homeschooling seems like too much "effort" on the parents part. School is ruined by movies. Movies about high school put too much emphasis on there being cliques. Teens are then relating to the movies in high school causing cliques to be more important throughout high schools.

Interview with school friend on school as an escape latter


School takes you places, even if you start out low school can get you up. You do well in school and you set yourself up for life. The work you put in can make you rich and wealthy. The problem is the reverse is not true. Well I dont know if its true completely but often rich kids who have more privileges in life but do not necessarily put in the work will still be able to go to a good colleges because of the connections they have and the money there parents have made. But still, at some point the work was put in. In that situation it is the father who worked hard in order to allow his son to have more opportunities in life. It boils down to the amount of input.

B:

All my interviews were extremely predictable which was the thing i was trying to avoid. I assume it is the questions that I asked the interviewers that caused them to turn out like this but still i expected the answers they gave me to be a little more original and well thought. The insight I had was that we all say school as a big equal sign to success and fulfilling dreams. I found one of the more interesting points written was that between school and movies. How cliques in movies cause us to put more emphasis on the group we spend our times with. This causes us to make different decisions than we would if we were not so stuck with a certain circle of friends.