Dear Future President,

Waking up in the mornings has become more difficult day by day, not due to the lack of sleep or late nights spent on social media, but the anxiety of returning to school. Going to school every day no longer consists of absorbing information or getting a good education, but rather playing a type of game, or a competition. The way that the education system has been framed in today’s society has made it so students feel as if college is the only bridge to success, and there’s a single institutionalized way into a higher class. The focus has been more on “Who can get the highest GPA” or “Who can handle the most college level courses.” but no longer is anybody actually obtaining critical skills or information.

College is without a doubt a privilege, and those who are deserving and hard-working should easily be able to attend. However, there are a handful of students who are worth more than what they’re grades depict, but due to how schools mount college they solely perceive themselves as something less. Schools have done a better job at degrading individuals rather than preparing them. College and test scores are accentuated by the school staff as if it’s the only source to prosperity. Consequently, students will sacrifice more than needed to attend a 4 year, because in our eyes we perceive it as our safety ticket into a wealthier and happier lifestyle. In reality college is meant to simply educate us further into what we chose to pursue. Yet society and school have done a good job at training us otherwise.

Having an older sister, I’ve had the benefit of a positive role model guiding me through my educational career. Unfortunately in doing so, she’s realized the negative changes within our schools. My sister, a recent graduate of UCSB, recalls that learning used to be more interesting rather than a hassle. Classes a little less than 10 years ago consisted of teachers who were more indulged into their students’ minds rather than the money. Unfortunately, schools are investing more of their time and money to compete against others and that overall reflects poorly on students. Teachers are forced to swiftly run through curriculum and hand out stacks of assignments as a “college preparatory” procedure. But unbeknownst to the majority of teachers this only forces students to go to extremes such as cramming and sadly enough, even cheating. As a result of this methodology of teaching our nation ultimately suffers.

Our country’s average scores in intellectual categories have been going nowhere but down. Students have been lagging in several subjects while other nations around the world significantly progress and bypass us. In math, one of the world’s most vital categories, the United States scored below 29 nations and education systems, thus dropping us several rankings since 2009. In the science field it’s the same picture, as our nation’s ranking plummeted only in a span of about 10 years. Compared to other nations around the globe, American teenagers ranked below average in math and only average in science and reading. Within our country SAT and ACT scores have also been failing to keep pace as they’ve been gradually lacking since ‘09. What’s most mind boggling is in spite of the fact that our test scores have been dropping and on average students have been doing more poorly, the price of college is only increasing and the difficulty to get in has become more strenuous.

As our nation’s leader, I plead that you take action and make several changes so that our education system works more on molding younger generations and coaching them to keep an open mind. Displaying that getting into an Ivy League school isn’t the only gateway into a brighter future, and test scores don't resemble a person's intelligence. Every batch of new students that come in aren’t going to be as easy to regulate as the previous ones. The best tactic is to take our time and really place our effort into assuring that their educational experience isn’t crammed with excessive stressing out, but rather full of knowledge and skills that can be utilized later on in life. At the moment we may just be kids, but inevitably we will become the future. 

Respectfully,

Andrie