I have decided to head back to school this fall and I am very excited. It is the time to find what I am really passionate about. I have been researching several graduate school programs so far and talked to a couple of admission representatives. My only concern is paying for graduate school so I have started applying to scholarships and grants. This post is my entry to the New Threats to Freedom Short Form Contest. The deadline is March 31st and I encourage anyone who needs scholarship money to apply. Post your comments below and have a wonderful week!
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New Threats to Freedom: The Freedom to Fail
By Christina Brown
I agree with Mr. Goodwin’s points on American meritocracy and the current state of our nation's educational system. But he did not address the root problem: institutionalized discrimination. Think about it. Institutionalized racism, sexism, and classism have been put into place to deter individuals from certain backgrounds from receiving the best education possible. Thus, our obsolete educational system must change to meet the needs of our growing multicultural and multidisciplinary society.
American society has failed to appreciate the hard work and commitment of our educators, unlike other industrialized nations such as Sweden and Japan. Many teachers fail to truly educate our future innovators because they do not have the discipline and right skill set to teach them the right reading, math, and science skills to succeed. There are fewer women excelling in math and science and running Fortune 500 companies because of gender expectations and a lack of mentoring for young women. Many parents are not invested in their children’s education because of centuries of socioeconomic and racial oppression.
However, students do not have the freedom to fail because they were never given that right in the first place. Most students are expected to get good grades, attend top-tier colleges and graduate schools, and get well-paying jobs. When students get bad test scores or fail courses, they are often punished by their parents and teachers; some even have taken their own lives because of this pressure to be perfect. As Mr. Goodwin pointed out previously, people will never achieve real success unless they are not exposed to the set-backs and wrong turns in life. This is a part of growing up. Students should be encouraged to take risks so that they can be more prepared for these high-profile positions in technology, health care, and education. If we as Americans teach our children of all ways of life the true value of a good education, we will regain our position as a superpower.
I have had some minor set-backs myself after graduating from Smith College during an economic recession. I thought that I had my life planned out. Was I wrong! Now I am making an enormous effort each and every day to find employment so I can start saving money for graduate school and start paying back my undergraduate loans. Yet, these set-backs have not stopped me from pursuing a career in marketing and computer science. I am a better person now than I was when meritocracy controlled my everyday life. I now appreciate the true value of hard work and adversity. These qualities will make me indispensable in today’s highly competitive, global economy.
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