I’m kind of surprised at how easy it is to succeed in college. I mean, I don’t really work hard, or have to put much time into it, but I’ve got A’s in all my classes. I kind of wish that I did have to work for it a little actually- that way I’d feel like I was getting my money’s worth.
As it is though, I sort of just listen to what’s said in class, and do all the assignments that get graded. That seems to be enough. Teachers don’t really disguise what they want you to pick up on to well- they all go over those couple main points over and over. You’d have to be oblivious not to pick up on it.
Last Monday though, my sociology teacher handed back a writing assignment we had to do. She told us that they were the worst assignments she’d ever read (not to be mean, just as a matter of fact)- they were so bad that the next assignment has to be edited by peers several times, and everyone in the class had to meet with her in her privately in her office to talk about their assignment.
I didn’t have to. She wrote the nicest things on my paper. Comments like “Great point”, and “This is exactly right”, even though I threw the whole project together half an hour before class began. I didn’t have to do anything for it. I certainly didn’t learn anything from it. So why am I spending $7,000 a semester? It’s not just that teacher either. I’ve sort of started thinking of the morning Logic class as optional, because it’s so easy to just show up the day of the quiz and get an A.
Recently I decided to research SAT scores, and found out that mine is fairly high. The thing is, I never cared about scoring big on a test, or getting into a fancy school. I just showed up and took the test one day because I had to if I wanted to go to any college. I didn’t study for the SAT’s, I didn’t take any prep classes, or take the PSATs- I just walked into the room with my pencils and scored a 1400.
Now I’m not saying this to brag- it really doesn’t matter to me. I’m just saying it to try to make sense of why I don’t really need to exert myself succeeding in school. I guess my mom was right after all- maybe I am special.
Extrapolating this observation into the ‘normal’ world, I figure I could make a healthy living without having to put much effort into it. If I applied myself then I think I could either make a lot of money, or make a big difference. I think I’d like to influence change in the world. For instance, the Pentagon is going to say in a report in a few days that our options in Iraq are leave, step up the troop numbers quite a bit, or be prepared to stay there for years. I’d like to spend the next couple months getting everyone in favor of leaving, so that the new Congress would face overwhelming public opposition by staying in Iraq, but I don’t know how. They don’t teach you how to do that in in school though. As far as I can tell politicians can’t do it because they’d lose votes. Lobbyists don’t do it, because no companies would profit from war being over.
I look over to the wall next to my computer, and I see the sort of person that could pull together that kind of show of support. Up on my wall is a poster of John Lennon, with his arms crossed, wearing his New York City t-shirt. His eyes are behind round black sunglasses. He always knew how to get on the news. He got the attention of the press just by staying in bed. What would he be doing to end the war?
When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.
