Public Education

In my opinion, there are several flaws in public education. One main flaw is standardized testing: the ACTs, the SATs (sometimes SAT subject tests…not looking forward to those), and the AP exams. At New Paltz High School, it is recommended that students take an absurd amount of tests throughout their education; it’s ridiculous, and that’s not even the worst part! You are required to pay for these exams, exams that are supposed to help you get into college. The problem with standardized tests is that they are not an accurate depiction of your intelligence. I don’t think colleges should place so much emphasis on one test. I believe that these tests are based more on your ability to manage your time, to guess wisely, and even to define whether or not you are a good test taker. Personally, I find these tests difficult because it is a lot of reading comprehension, which is not really my strong suit. In addition, these tests are expensive, so people with a lot of money can pay to take the tests several times and also pay for extra tutoring and books. This leads to an unfair advantage for people with not as much money, which then becomes an equality problem—a social issue. I imagine that students who attend private schools do better on standardized tests because their families are able to afford expensive SAT prep classes.

There are some ideas that I have to improve public education, but I’m not sure that they would be any better or give a more accurate reflection of a person’s intelligence. One suggestion would be to put more emphasis on doing an interview for colleges because the admissions director would get to see your personality. However, the problem with that is people could bribe their interviewer, or get along better with him than others, or even the interviewer could be racist, which would place certain students above other applicants. Another solution could be to only look at students’ academic record. Yet, even that is not always a precise portrayal of students’ intelligence. Some classes are harder than others; some teachers instructing the class are harder than the other teachers; furthermore, some students are considered the “teacher’s pet.” In that case, the student could receive higher grades, allowing the student to be easily accepted, or at least more likely to be admitted than others. In the early 1900s, the intelligence quotient (IQ) test was designed to assess human intelligence, but this test is also not a great representation of one's educational background. 

I conclude that there are many different methods on how to evaluate students applying to colleges, but none of them seem to be flawless. If colleges took the time to look at all of the applicants’ life history, such as their family background, school records (grades and classes), awards (varsity letters and academic awards), extracurricular activities (clubs and sports), college essays, and teacher comments, maybe even some peer comments, colleges would truly get to know the students on a more personal level. Perhaps students could form some kind of portfolio of their best work throughout their high school education. For example, their best essay, best project, or best art piece could be included. There is no perfect solution, but I think colleges try their best to be fair during the application process. There are some colleges you would consider as safety schools, schools you think you could easily get accepted to because of your test scores, and then there are reach schools, the very prestigious and rigorous schools. However, you could be surprised by getting rejected from your safety schools and accepted by your reach schools. The thing is, you never really know what colleges are looking for; you might just be exactly it, so it is important that you are optimistic and open to different types of colleges, and to not let a test determine how smart you are compared to other people in the world because people can be smart in their own way.

Education Week

In fourth grade, my teacher read many books to us out loud because listening is easier than reading when you are young. She first read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, and then The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane was my first “real” novel that was not filled with pictures. I loved the plot of this book because it was sad with a happy ending.  I asked my mom to buy me a copy of my own because I loved it so much; it is probably the only book I have ever read more than once (shocking, right?). The Invention of Hugo Cabret is another book that I really enjoyed because it consists of pretty much all black and white pictures. This book made me realize how much I liked reading graphic novels because books are easier to read with pictures that follow the story. My mom also bought me a copy of this book to re-read, but I never did; maybe I will sometime this year. After reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I began reading more graphic novels, such as the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

I own and read all of these books. My fourth grade teacher has had the greatest impact on my literacy because she got me to enjoy reading different types of works that I did not think I would enjoy. In addition, we had a poetry unit where I had to write my own original poem. I was not a fan of writing poetry at first because I had no clue what to write about while my friends had their creative juices flowing. After my teacher made corrections, I edited it to make my poem perfect and then I entered it in a poetry contest and my poem was chosen to be published!  I was so proud to have written a poem by myself and for it to be published in a book. Ever since this class, I have appreciated poetry, especially writing poetry. I definitely think the teacher you have affects your view on literacy and, thankfully, I have had some pretty great English teachers throughout my education.

Visual Text: "The Problem We All Live With"

I am not quite sure when I visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, but I do know that I went there for a school fieldtrip. One painting that I remember is called The Problem We All Live With. It depicts Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old African American girl, on her way to a white public school; this illustration was painted in 1964 during the process of racial desegregation. I remember viewing this painting and being appalled that someone would throw a tomato at her. I did not understand how or why people could be so cruel to an innocent girl--she isn’t harming anyone, she is just going about her own business. I was also stunned that four deputy U.S. marshals are escorting the girl to school because of the violence against her; it really made me fear that people might act harshly toward me because I am Chinese, but my dad explained to me that racism is in the past and I have nothing to worry about.

However, that is not entirely true. Sure, racism is mostly resolved in the world, but yet we still hear about discrimination in the news. I’ve been made fun of because of my race several times. I tried to ignore it and pretend like I didn’t hear the comments because it is extremely hurtful to be made fun of in general, but I think more so when people made fun of me because I am Chinese. Sometimes I would cry to my mom and ask her many questions such as why am I Chinese or why couldn’t I be white instead. In those moments, I felt so ashamed for being who I am. After sixteen years of knowledge and experience, I’ve learned not to be embarrassed, but rather proud to be different and unique because who wants to be like everyone else? My parents used to tell me that being Chinese, among other things, is what makes me so special…kind of cheesy right?

When I first saw this photo, I was filled with outrage. I just could not believe that this was how life would be for a young black child. When I was younger everything was so different compared to the past in America. I was not fully aware of segregation and discrimination. If you look closely at the background of the art piece, there are nasty, racist words. After viewing the work several times now, I realize how brave this little girl is—fearless from the world around her. The girl continues to walk forward and keep her head held high; she is so strong. As I was writing about the drawing, I noticed that all four men are stepping with their left foot forward while the girl steps with her right foot, opposite from the white men. This makes a statement about conformity and unity as the girl defies being like the white people. In addition, the girl is wearing white, which typically represents purity and innocence: white shoes, white socks, white bows, and a white dress. I think the white color is supposed to juxtapose her dark skin.

Overall, I think this Norman Rockwell painting says a lot about racism. I completely agree with the statement, “A picture is a thousand words.” There is so much that goes on in one single visual image that sometimes it is hard to grasp everything. Similar to written works, there are multiple ways of interpreting a picture because people think and view things differently. This is one of my favorite Norman Rockwell paintings and it was the first visual work that I thought to write about for this blog because it has majorly impacted me.

A Novel Everyone Should Read

When I was younger, I hated reading because I found it difficult. My mom would constantly tell me how important it is to read; she used to say that it would make me smarter and that it’s fun! Well, I didn’t exactly agree; she would have to beg me to read a few lines out loud. I was certainly not a fan of reading but, after realizing that I would have to read often for school, I tried convincing myself that it was not too unbearable. Luckily, it worked because over the years I have come to enjoy reading. Yet, there are some cases in which I hate reading all over again. For example, if the book is too intricate or too complex, I get so utterly lost that I do not catch the deeper meaning of the work. Additionally, I absolutely detest books that are just plain boring, which usually put me right to sleep and then I never want to see that book again. I find pleasure in reading books that are enticing and grasp you in a certain way that you cannot stop reading—someone is there telling you to turn the page.  

With all that said, let’s get to that book I think every high school student should read before graduating. I started reading it last year for one of my classes: AP Euro or English 10, I don’t remember which one. Anyways, the book is Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-li Jiang. This book is about a young girl’s struggle between her belief in Chairman Mao and the Communist Party, and her family. The book is set in 1966, during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, when being intelligent became a crime and a wealthy family background invited persecution or worse. Told with simplicity, an innocent voice, and a graceful tone, this notable memoir gives a child's-eye view of a terrifying time in twentieth-century history, and of one family's courage. This book accurately portrays a communist influenced society in a personal and absorbing way because you really get to know all the characters from the first person narrative.  

After reading the book, I felt well educated about the Cultural Revolution, especially when my class started to learn about the topic in history class--I was a pro (not really though). The book made me understand why so many young people followed and obeyed Chairman Mao, and how influential he was for them, leading them to behave the way they did, which was sort of disturbing. I believe everyone should read this book at some point because it depicts historical events from the author’s own experience; the fact that these stories truly represent people's lives is what makes memoirs so fascinating. Instead of typically incorporating works of fiction in the curriculum, teachers should try branching out to this style of writing because people, who have rarely been exposed to memoirs, might be intrigued and grow a new appreciation for written words.

Here's a link of the author discussing the book (it's really long):

http://www.c-span.org/video/?163321-1/book-discussion-red-scarf-girl-memoir-cultural-revolution