“Get up! You’re gonna be late for school!” The childhood words trigger an immediate response by most: the familiar pang associated with having to wake up at an absurdly early part of the day, to get on the bus and head to a big building full of equally disgruntled preadolescents. Unless you went to one of those new-age schools that focus on student creativity and innovative team-building curriculums, you probably dreaded this weekday morning ritual as much as I did. And so at one point, if you are in that majority group, you probably asked the question yourself at one point or another.
For me, much has changed since those days, and yet nothing has changed at all. Thanks to school, work, art, and all the other milestone experiences of life, I have definitely become a more intelligent, well rounded person. But I still drag myself out of bed every morning, partially against my own will, asking myself what I am paying for and why I am paying for it. The biggest difference is that I am making a conscious choice. Whether by familiarity or by desire, I get on that bus every morning regardless.
I guess my only conclusion is that I go to school because school is what I know best. I’m still being made to jump through unnecessary hoops, but they are hoops that I know how to handle; no matter what, life will always be filled with the feeling of being dragged out of bed, and the only difference is at least now I’ve gotten very good at getting what I want out of that experience as well. To summarize: I have no freaking idea why I’m in school, and why I will likely continue to be in school, but I’m pretty happy, so that’s enough of an answer for now.
Your Sawdust Editor,
Tylor Colby