Alexandra Moore
ENGL 1A – M, W 2:15 P.M.
Professor Hansel Alvarez
February 24th, 2015

Have We Failed The System or Has The System Failed Us?
I have always despised school. Well, not always, there was a time that I would pick up a book and read for endless hours into the day. I was what you would call a curious kid, always asking questions and fascinated with the world around me. However, as I got older, I lost a spark that was once radiating throughout me. I stopped reading completely, would often finish my homework assignments fifteen minutes prior to them being due, and was simply passing by each year. On average, millions of students are knowingly and often unknowingly wasting their time attending school. There are several reasons on why this is occurring; students simply feel they are forced to attend school and develop a passive attitude towards education, establishing an unhealthy reliance with technology, and unable to develop time management skills.
I understand and relate to the millions of students who are developing a passive attitude towards school. How do millions of students like I change from eager, curious middle schooler’s to passive, drained students attending high school? Personally because of what I have experienced, a student’s perspective is essential in fixing the system. It took an inspiring teacher for me to realize how self-destructive my habits were for myself and society. The inspiring teachers name was Barbara Stith; she was my English teacher during my senior year of high school. I dreaded the day I had to take her class. Rumors swirled that she read the entire spark notes, cliff notes, purple notes, and anything you could think of notes. That meant I was going to have to read and critically think, and started to love it. Her teaching style went beyond repetitive worksheets and ongoing notes, lecturing. She knew her students were capable of memorizing spark notes the night before a test, so she prioritized class time on critically thinking. This different approach sparked something in me that I thought went out. Not saying right away I had a complete transformation but there was a seed planted in me. Thanks to one inspiring, unique teacher a seed was planted that was the start of my new educational journey.
Aside from my lack of desire to learn in high school, the biggest mistake in my educational career was creating a Facebook and Twitter account. Every student can relate to this struggle. There is a huge test tomorrow but your phone is blowing up from all your friends exclaiming about the twitter drama occurring right now. You tell yourself you will only take a ten minute break from studying, but ten minutes turns into one hour, then you find yourself falling asleep. Maybe tomorrow right? Students in this generation are living in a fast pace, always needing to