High school students have adopted a common mindset that it is more important to get a high grade for a class rather than actually learning the material. It is easy to see high school classes as nothing more than a prerequisite that will not really help you in your college or career. However, I would argue high school education is important and lessons learned in high school can help later in life.
High school students have adopted a common mindset that it is more important to get a high grade for a class rather than actually learning the material. It is easy to see high school classes as nothing more than a prerequisite that will not really help you in your college or career. However, I would argue high school education is important and lessons learned in high school can help later in life.
When I came to the end of a Spanish class with the grade of an A, I stopped to think about what I really learned and I was at a loss. I realized that I had gone from test to test temporarily memorizing the information from that unit and then abandoning everything I had learned. Further reflecting, that class was also the most difficult to succeed in from that year, and not due to the material.
While it can seem like a good solution to memorize information the night before a test and then let it slip your mind, this method makes future tests, finals, and classes far more difficult. You end up working twice as hard and losing the benefit of that knowledge for the rest of your life. The following year when I entered the sequential Spanish class, I felt behind from the start, but learned a lesson more valuable than Spanish. I needed to work to understand a class’s content rather than pass the class.
Similarly, classes become all the more satisfying when you finish them with a real understanding of the course. Education has lost much of its value because it has become a required task to just get through in order to start real life. However, being able to apply skills and lessons learned inside the classroom to real world situations is an incredible achievement. Learning should be exciting and enjoyable.
Students need to value education and the process of growing as a student. Every portion of education is crucial and may help in more ways than you think. The time to learn is now. Students cannot put off effort or care for a future college or career. If you have the opportunity to influence a student, encourage them to recognize every level of education, and if you are a student, make sure you are getting more out of your classes than a grade.
