Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz
Speaking from my experience only...
You want to make young people better students, learn more and be "smarter"? You have to give them a reason to do so. There needs to be a light at the end of the tunnel, a carrot, a reward. There are those few that see getting better grades than those around them as enough of an incentive. Some like the approval of family, parents, and teachers. Some want to attend a better university and so they will work like mad to get better grades. For the rest, none of these things work. It was not until I saw that electronics was fun and that it pays, that I started to really get good grades. I thought you needed to learn history to be able to answer questions on quiz shows. English, why? I already speak and write. It was not until I decided they were important for me did I start to really work hard and even fight for grades I deserved. And yes, everyone told me all of the above, "you need to get better grades because..." "Alan can do better, he just choses not to..." "You want to go to a good university don't you?" Well now I know, I needed to work hard to allow me to choose my career, not have one thrust on me. I enjoy what I do everyday and thank God that I found this out just in time.
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I have been told I was a unique case by my school counselor. I guess I just was not the type for public education. I am the type of person that disregards grades, rank, awards, positions and stuff like that. Some would call me an undisciplined rebel. Sure, that sounds like me in some perspective. I used to scoff at those kids that would compete for the higher grade. In my eyes, they were doing it all wrong. The purpose of education is NOT to just get good grades; I knew this from an early age. I still facepalm at those kids who play the system to get the highest GPA or rank in school. It is ridiculous what some kids would do. I was appalled by that type of behavior; yet it is those kids that turn to me and scold me for reading about quantum physics instead of reading about capacitance. I know I have my flaws, I know that I won't get into a good college if I keep this attitude up. I have to play by the rules of the game or I will be purged out of the system. Also for awards, I personally think awards are ridiculous. The person receiving the award knows his or her accomplishments and dies not need a committee of people to confirm for him/her.
Sir, I am just like how you were. I have been receiving the comments "David can do better than this, he just needs to try harder."; "David is a smart boy, his grades do not show it". According to the system, I am dumber than I am on paper. That, I believe is my problem. I remember I was that kid that finishes tests 10 minutes faster than everyone then get a 100% on it. That was mostly due to the fact that all I ever read was nonfiction books, often higher than my grade level. I read extensively about biology, geology, anything science related. Then came high school, where they took things a little farther. Sure, I would still be acing every single biology test, but I still only had a C or B because I never did the work. In fact, I was the only student that year that got over a 100% on the final yet I still ended up with a C in the class because of my ignorance. I never did the work, and when I did, it was done half assed, bare minimum. That habit is not a good thing to have. Then I had that same attitude the next year, including during robotics. if anyone remembers, I was the kid that played Madden on the computer the whole time during competition. My grades were also terrible by then. Junior year came and went. I still have not recovered from my bad habits. But I plan on changing that. I spent the summer so far studying calculus and physics with calculus.
Also, a side note, thank you for suggesting Bradley. I will be going to an information meeting in 2 weeks.