Pre-Reading Blog #1

Here I am, 20 years old, and still at community college. Granted, I had to take a year off, but if I were 16 again, I would have thought for sure (!!) that I would be at a four year institution of some sort, even a mental one....

Sierra is my second jc. I went to DVC in Concord, closer to the bay. While going there straight out of high school, I had to learn how to swim, or at least keep my head above water, in an environment where I knew absolutely nobody. I had moved from Colorado, and I am shy and quiet when I don't know anyone, but I can come out of my shell and have fun if I know even just one person. I ramble. Cripes.

uh, my impressions of education thus far? we are taught to the test. it is rather irritating. in my year sobbatical from school, i realized i LOVE to learn. i love to enrich my mind. i am not the smartest or brightest crayon in the box, but i am passionate about learning, and for that matter, my education.

I did enjoy high school, i was in Colorado, and had a close group of friends. i was by no means popular, but was the girl that most people knew. i was 'smart,' AP classes and all that jazz, but some of my friends were smarter. i was kind of a jock, dual sports, and i liked going to school.

in elementary, middle, and high school you take C-SAPS (like, i think, STAR testing??). i was always the 90th percentile or higher, clearly a smarty pants. but then i got to college. well at 18 and 19, i still was FOR SURE a smarty pants. in these international relations courses and business classes with a bunch of older students, i felt pretty awesome, until i realized all i had to do was read the book and take the test. pretty much everyone can do that. so, over the last year and a half, my confidence in my intelligence has plummeted.

i am so ecstatic to be back in school full time. i function as a human being differently, and i think more positively, when i have a full plate and am busy most of my time. i love to multitask. i am ready to stretch my intellect.

my problem with the education system? i don't know what to be when i grow up. and i think i am growing up too fast to figure it out. i am also afraid i'm not smart enough. that i won't add anything to society, or won't be unique.

Why aren't we, as students, more harshly critiqued? Why is a 'C' grade devoid of it's true meaning, mediocrity?

rationalism-reasoning based on truth and actuality
anti-rationalism-against truth based reasoning (?)
fundamentalism- support for literal explanation and adaptation