The Test
I had a dream last night.
I was sitting at a desk in a room with no furniture. I had a number two pencil in my hand. There was a test laying in the center of the desk. At least I thought it was a test. On the cover was a blank page. I picked it up and flipped through it. It was not heavy. It was three pages. The second page had three questions. The third page was another blank page. I turned to the second page.
Question 1: Why do you matter?
A. Well, I was born for a reason.
B. I don't.
C. Because I will improve the society I live in.
I bubbled in "C".
Question 2: What do you want to do with your life?
A. Survive and advance.
B. Travel the world.
I answered "B".
Question 3(A): Are you truly passionate about something?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I don't know.
I filled in the "A" bubble.
Question 3(B): Have you been taught to cultivate your passion?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I don't know.
I filled in the "B" bubble.
That was easy enough. I think I aced it. My life compacted into three multiple choice questions. Whoever makes these standardized tests are quite talented at boiling down a complicated subject into a few vague inquiries.
A teacher of mine always wants to read us interesting stories from non-curriculum related history books or relay to us a morsel of information in the news regarding some simple historical pleasure like the recent unearthing of King Edward's body. And a student always asks if we should take notes. "No, just listen." This response works as an excuse for everyone to fiddle with their iPods or mentally plan the rest of their day or stare, unresponsive, at the wall while he wistfully recounts just how terrible Ivan really was. Why learn for the sake of learning? Grade-obsessed students are at a loss when questions like this are posed, questions which require critical thinking and will not affect their GPA.
I'm writing this while he talks about a recent Rembrandt art theft, or something like that. We don't have to take notes yet. I'm guilty of it too. There is no thirst for knowledge any longer. I justify it by saying I'll learn later, once I have the means to travel and have life educate me. Not only is there no incentive to succeed and learn beyond the quantified grade system, but trying to do so could be harmful. If you spend time writing poems or short stories, you lose time studying, you get worse grades, and you can't get past high school. Elementary math.
So yes, I am against CAPT testing. I am against AP testing. I am against the "OLA" test used to evaluate teachers, the "OLA" test that students are forced to take at the beginning and end of every semester or quarter. I'm against midterms and finals and pop quizzes. I'm against tests. I hate that the three students with the best GPA are the ones that deliver speeches at graduation. This is not to take away from their accomplishments, but are they the best writers? The best orators? I hate studying. And I hate facing the anxiety of the ordeal. I know, I'm every student. But I hate it because successfully memorizing information like dates and formulas does not benefit the student in any area aside from their GPA. I hate it because it reduces a student to a number. A teacher to a number. Months of learning and years of experience to one final grade.
I understand the value of hard work, but the current grading system does not reward intelligence. Is there nothing else to discover? Are dogmatic Quadratic formulas the only equations left to be known? Is there no other philosophy to be created? Was Voltaire the last freedom fighter? Locke the last idealist? Newton the last theorist? That's how it feels when I'm sitting at a desk filling out a test or taking the mandatory notes we need to memorize for the test. When an entire lesson plan is based around being ready for the test. Life becomes a test rather than a journey of self discovery. Creativity is being slowly exterminated. We are young people with old ideas.
