Homework 44 -Big Expectations for School

For all of our lives, since we were born until the day we graduate college, we are told that attending school will prepare us for our futures, and help us find fulfilling and well playing jobs. We are constantly told that the only way we can have a successful career is to attend school. However, according to Thomas L. Friedman, most corporations will hire international employees because Americans don’t have the education required to do what others in other countries know how to do. Friedman states “These local incentives matter because smart, skilled labor is everywhere now. Intel can thrive today — not just survive, but thrive — and never hire another American.” Although this seems rather harsh, especially the “never hire another American” part, it makes me question whether institutions are actually preparing us for our futures as much as they same they do. If other people in other countries are just as skilled as we are, and they probably work for less, what makes us so special? Instead of just competing with other Americans for a job, we are competing internationally for the same job. Also in the article, the quote ““As a citizen, I hate it. As a global employer, I have the luxury of hiring the best engineers anywhere on earth. If I can’t get them out of M.I.T., I’ll get them out of Tsing Hua” — Beijing’s M.I.T.” appears. Even though Americans don’t want to hire international employees, they will because these other employees are way better than Americans these days. Friedman explains that international employees are more common to become hired because of their intelligence levels. In America, where our schools lack the proper education and many students are just sliding by with teachers who will pass any student, we have nothing to show for ourselves. Once being one of the smartest countries, we are now part of a dumb generation where American corporations won’t even hire their own kind.

After reading Obama’s speech, my hopes were lifted. This speech was moving, powerful, and gave me a reason to attend school every day. After reading Friedman’s article, I wondered why even try when someone else in some other country will land the job I am dying for? However, Obama’s speech changed my mind. I was able to connect to him, to forget that he was the President of the United States; instead he was another human being that went to school. One thing that always provides contradictions between people are whether schools do another to prepare students for the future. Obama touched on this topic in his speech, when he said “But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.” This made so much sense to me. The schools we attend can have the best teachers in the world, the teachers that dedicated their lives to providing us with the education they feel we deserve. We can have the most supportive parents in the world, ones who are always there pushing us in order to make sure we succeed in everything we do, and even if we don’t we know that we tried. We can have all of this, but none of it matters if we don’t contribute to our education. What is a good teacher if there are not students who are willing to learn? What is a supportive parent if their child does not try in anything they do? Obama was correct when stating that we need to try in school in order to have a successful career. His speech really struck me, and made me understand the benefits of school.

After reading Robert Kiyosaki’s article “We need two school systems”, I beg to differ. Sure schools are preparing students to become future employees, but two types of schools? That’s just ridiculous. What if some people don’t know if they would prefer to be an employee or an entrepreneur? I like Kiyosaki’s idea of teaching students two tracks, the track to being an employee and the track to being an entrepreneur. But I would edit his plan in the way of combining these two tracks. Give students an option to take a couple of classes in entrepreneurship in high school, to show them what it takes to run a business. Maybe they aren’t sure what goes on to it, how can they just jump right away into a college that focuses on running your own business? I think he makes a valid point that schools are constantly preparing students to be future employees of America, but if students know of no other option, what do they do? Most schools don’t offer classes in entrepreneurship, but maybe if they did we’d have more future CEO’s in our society.

I believe that schools should prepare their students as well as they can to have a successful career. In our current school, it is very easy to pass a class, as long as you do the work and participate somewhat of the time in class. In order to fail a class, you have to never attend. The teachers will pass you no problem, but what is this saying for our generation? We barely try that hard in school, while kids in Stuyvesant have about five hours of homework a night. Sure we have exhibitions, but we have a whole year to work on them, and sure we have tests and quizzes, but how often is that? Now that I am complaining of course, but after reading the previous article, I feel stupid. If I’m in America, shouldn’t I have the benefits of receiving a good education to have a successful career? Not if somebody from another country ten times smarter than me will take that same job. This makes me question the institutions we call schools values and beliefs, are they really working to prepare us for our future, or are they beginning to give up on us as a whole?