United States Education

I have been noticing that this country has serious issues with how we percieve education.

well, I am very happy that there are places to talk topics like this (education). It seems that at my age, I have the desire to grow and learn while my friends all have the desire to go and have have fun and not a care in the world. I would rather draw and engineer things, think, read, think about politics and so forth, that it sometimes makes me sick to think that most people find these being a waste of time and that it is a nussance that than a blessing.

For instance, something that seemed like a very little humorous joke in the movie Dodgeball. I was watching it for the umpteenth time (HBO monthly repeat) and I noticed that the 'tournament' was being held at the 'university of learning addicts'. I had heard it before, but it really caught me this time. It really got me thinking that this country has absoloutly no respect for education. It is seen as a joke and is taken for granted, while everywhere else around the world it is seen as a godsend [technically speaking, not literally]. It really made me sick that the design to learn, grow and the desire to learn is seen as a sick and twisted reality, as if it is some disease that the 'normal' people have to put up with people like 'us'. I know it was meant only as a joke, but it really made me sick, and somewhat made me boil over on the topic. While I am studying, trying very despirately to get my GPA up to a 3.5 minimum, (I would like to attend MIT as I am smart enought, have the desire to go far, and the ability to succeed in the field, however, actually find it hard to do my assigned work and would rather work on my own projects), my friends are all worried about what's going on in television, movies, music, parties, and the next time they will get wasted.

It jsut makes me sick, that people have such a twisted perspective on everything in this country, and we're stuck in the middle of it. Is anyone else noticing this? If so, it would be a great help to know that I'm not alone in a world like this.

This has been going on for decades. Don't beat yourself up over it. The System is there, you will get out of it what you put into it. Worrying about the fact that your peers don't have the same passion is wasted energy. Look at it this way, when you're working for a tech firm and you see the janitor, whom you MAY remember from your past, that it was YOU that took the opportunity to avail him(her)self of the tools to better yourself.

Agreed. It's Social Darwinism at is most elemental level. If the desire for a higher calling overrides the need to follow modern trends and fashons - consider yourself on of the blessed few. It will pay off in the long run.

you just need to get to a good college campus, at the universities here they spend almost all night studying or working in the library.

MIT is a good school and if you get accepted there, your lucky and should feel an accomplishment in that alone.

The only thing I hate about schools in the east and in california are the higly liberal environment on campus.

Originally posted by XphilesPhan
The only thing I hate about schools in the east and in california are the higly liberal environment on campus.

Was that necessary to make your point? We don't need to bring lib/con into everything. Sheesh. :shk:

We share the same idea. I also value my education. Let's just hope you don't end up like me. Procraistination turned me into a very unproductive person. The teachers don't actually teach. My comprehension level has plummeted. From the census(spelling) I took at school. Most people at my school have a 3.75 gpa and plan to attend prestigious schools like MIT. Yet they don't even know how to spell "information". I drug(hopeful past tense of drag) them through school, but I don't want to drag them through college. I have some advice. As soon as you finish your journey through education, leave this country. America is doomed. Find a more productive country, say Britian or Japan. They really appreciate engineers there. Our smartest president was Bill Clinton, but its going downhill from there. This country is too full of itself. Give it some time to cool down. and example is the fact that America uses something as ancient as standard. Metric is here people.

P.S. I thought, on Dodgeball, they said university learning annex.

[edit on 2-6-2006 by Arkham]