Work

My body rests limp in the chair, like a wet sock put out on the windowsill to dry. Who would wear that sock again? They will, in the morning; looks like the sun will even have to work harder to make that happen. Mind staying up a few hours later? You’ll be paid overtime. That’s reasonable compensation, isn’t it? More money, it seems like that’s all that matters to anyone at the end of the day. I’m sure it matters to the sun as well, right?

In the meantime, I’ll go for a swim at the pool. I am consumed in one gulp, and my body floats aimlessly, my mind infinitely in this otherworldly space. Gravity? Who needs it. Ribbons of light tickle my eyelids; is that you, sun? I know, it’s not fair that you have to watch me relax when you’re working like that. But I promise, you’ll be paid fairly. Some sound comes from that other world, warbling through the thick membrane of chlorinated water, reaching my small ears like a fetus in the womb, resting and feeding on the serenity of life before emerging into the treble-filled clammer of an airy world.

I would fly for you, I would die for you,
but all I can do right now is cry for you.

Thoughts on education

I sit here typing in a state of slight frustration. I’m about as close to being on summer vacation as I can get, with the completion of a paper being all that stands in my way. This assignment asks me to respond to three prompts, all of which are straightforward and simple enough to understand. However, one of these refers to a law review article which we are expected to read separately, and asks us to explain the author’s criticism of the court case ‘Brown II’; out of the entire 6,237 words in this article, only ONE of them is ‘Brown II’. The entirety of the article discusses the issue of Public School Desegregation and goes very in-depth into analyzing the issue of segregation and racism in our contemporary education system; yet, I’m being asked to explain the authors brief and lone mention of this single court case?

Just for clarity, and kicks, here’s the prompt:

“Explain Robert Carter’s criticism of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown II as discussed in his law review article in the course reader.”

And from that law review article, here is the ONLY paragraph that even mentions Brown II:

“Even after the “all deliberate speed” remediation ordered a year later in Brown  [*890]  II, n20the Supreme Court allowed school boards to dawdle in fashioning meaningful desegregation remedies. It was not until a decade later in Griffin v. County School Board n21 that the Supreme Court announced, “The time for mere ‘deliberate speed’ has run out,” and ordered the school board to come forward immediately with a realistic plan that promised to work.n22 Thus, from the start the message to the public was that the denial of equal educational opportunities to black students is not as serious a constitutional violation as other constitutional infractions.”

Does that sound like something to base my response to that prompt off of? If so, please help me understand what exactly I should respond to, as the only marginally opinionated assertion made by Carter in that paragraph is the final sentence, and not something I feel I can base an entire page and a half of writing on.

Naturally, I’m confused, so I email the professor basically saying what I just said above. Now, right now I’m functioning off of a number of assumptions, many of which could be very incorrect, and thus distorting my view of this situation; I have not received a response from the professor, and I have a feeling I won’t be receiving one. Perhaps she’s busy, perhaps she hasn’t checked her email. But my gut tells me that she’s going to look at my email, chuckle to herself, and say something along the lines of, “That’s not my job, that’s yours.”

But wait… that IS your job. I understand it’s my responsibility to write my own paper and do all the work, but when I don’t understand what I’m being asked to do, what am I supposed to do? Just wing it and run in the dark, hoping it marginally satisfies your expectations? I’m in school for myself, not for you Professor Hubbard, no matter how much reality may tell you otherwise. This is college, not gradeschool, and it’s no longer your job to discipline your students, no matter how unorganized, unmotivated, and unintelligent they may be. It doesn’t matter how pathetic you think the current teen/young adult population is, or how dissatisfying their work ethic and level of cognitive ability is to you. It’s your job to teach, and it’s our job to learn. That’s it. 

Again, though, I’m making quite a few assumptions here. Maybe I will receive an email from her, and maybe it’ll be the most helpful email I’ve ever received. But I doubt it. Teachers need to stop developing this inhumane superiority complex, and need to start treating their students with more respect. Generational gaps will always exist, but genetically, we are all similar. Just because someone of our generation might spend more time on the computer in a month than an older person will in their entire life doesn’t mean we can’t reason or think as well as they can. Learning only happens when we have an opportunity to do so, and as the teacher it is your job to present that opportunity, not expect us to create it for ourselves and laugh at us when we aren’t able to.

And this all leads me to another issue that I’ve been hearing about in our current education system, particularly with regard to undergraduates: all we do is drink and party, and we’re not learning anything. I won’t deny the fact that this is true, it’s probably the most evident truth to anyone that attends a remotely social college. Yes it’s true, but it’s not statistically significant. It doesn’t mean anything, and I’ll tell you why.

Going back even as recent as 1980, which many may credit with being a more academically successful time period in our nation’s history, the population difference between then and now is striking: in those thirty years, we’ve experienced a 50% growth in population—from 200 million in 1980 to 300 million today. Given that statistic, it’s probably safe to say that there weren’t NEARLY as many young adults attending college then as there are today; but I’m not going to assume that, so lets look a little further.

Even from the year 2007 to 2008, there are statistically significant rates of growth in the number of freshman undergraduate applicants colleges are receiving. In that span of a single year, one college went from an incoming freshman class of 547 to 2,998; that’s a 448% increase in registration. If you just thought “what the fuck?” you’re probably not alone. In 1980, roughly 17% of caucasian Americans had a 4-year degree; today, the number is over 30%. That’s just about a 100% increase, while there was only a 50% increase in population.

In addition to all of this population growth, the function of higher education in our society today is evolving. Back in the 20th century, education was a privilege. Many people were able to make a fine living without having a college degree, and that’s the way things went for a lot of people. That’s not the case anymore. College has become a social norm more than anything else, and teens graduating from high school see it as a rite of passage into… what? A higher quality of education? A time of growth for their intellectual capacity? A better social life? Yeah, lets go with that last one, because that’s the truth. Students attend college because it’s the normal thing to do; and who can blame them with today’s competitive job market? It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a job without a college degree, and as a result, many people who may not be prepared for higher education are resorting to it simply to continue living in this country. As a result, you have a LOT of people who are going to college for the hell of it.

So getting back to my initial point: the fact that undergraduates today drink and party more than ever is very true, but it’s not a significant claim, because of the above. There are so many more people attending college today, and many of them do it not because they genuinely want to educate themselves or take more challenging classes, but because it’s just the normal thing to do. There is a larger number of the non-student, subjecting themselves to a college environment because it’s what they’re expected to do. How can anyone be surprised at the amount of carelessness going on in college, when it has been degraded in many cases to nothing but a rite of passage and a social norm? This data, while slightly irritating and perhaps disheartening, doesn’t mean our education system is failing, OR that the standards of higher education have fallen. It’s simply that a certain group of students has become more largely represented in schools because of various social changes.

And now, I’ll get back to writing the paper I’m supposed to be writing.

Stranger

What a peculiar feeling
like falling into the horizon
slipping from earth’s mighty grip
into some unknown dimension
where children are birthed from the mist
and flowers erupt from flames
as the saying goes
you learn something new each day

But what have I learned?
but that I can’t let her go
I’m bound, a fly in her web
the puppet of her soul
they say time cures all
whatever it is, I’ve got none
could anyone spare a drop,
or perhaps even a crumb?

Far and deep
within the jungle of my soul
there is a place for her
a house where she lives
and sings
and dances
and laughs
and plays
and does all the things
we do together
each night and each day
I want to see her
I want to feel her
I want to love her

But I should probably get going
and continue my travels
until we meet
I accept this fate
whenever that is
wherever you are
whatever you’re doing
whoever you might be
what shall I call you?
for now, stranger
remember these days well
I look forward to hearing all about it

hm

I don’t speak English
maybe, back in the day
like when I drew pictures using crayons
the mailman, a dog
or something like that
speaking of dogs, I’ve got a pretty cool one
he seems pretty smart
when I put the newspaper down, he stares at it
it looks like he kind of understands it
and I talk to him sometimes, thinking aloud
he watches me like he’s interested
but then he usually just lays down and closes his eyes
he’s nice
but I wish I had someone to talk to sometimes
when I’m alone with him, I talk dog
woof, woof
he seems to like it, but it gets tiring
I wanna say some real things, you know?
instead of making silly noises
but I’m kind of used to it I guess

I’ll offer a brief explanation of this drawing: I realized not long ago that I tend to enter into a more creative and thoughtful state of mind in the evening, but very often have nothing to do with it. So I decided I’d draw a picture about it, and this is what spilled out of my mind. 

Whether or not you feel this picture is a good representation of that idea, I hope you enjoy it.

Tired of all the clouds and the rain… isn’t it supposed to be summer?

The President’s message, broadcast on televisions across America, and across the world.