Ramshackle Head

"I love you more than the world can contain

In its lonely and ramshackle head"

Sufan Stevens

Some days you come home from work leaden with the weight of another batch of students of concern, but you are not calling them that anymore, so instead you worry about their overall wellness. Your afternoons and evenings becoming only the time in between work, so much so that you forget that you are living a life, raising a family, tending your own needs, maintaining a marriage.

Is this all that life is meant to be? Noticing and appreciating the in between moments? The few hours after you overcome the exhaustion and the few minuets before you succumb to it and sleep?

You wash the lunch boxes and make the next day’s lunches on auto pilot, you watch the late shows make fun of Trump as a pathway to your sanity. Who has the energy to worry about the world beyond the children in your life? You check in on the homework, hoping it’s done, but not really caring because let’s face it homework is bullshit. You work on the speech therapy words with the little one, because you are paying a small fortune for improvement.

It’s Tuesday night so you and the girls take the bus to the local restaurant for pints and pies. The sun sets on your second IPA, illuminating the sky in a blanket of violent and pink. You and the girls are talking about music based on the post you wrote yesterday. They seem to understand your point, even though the older one argues for the sake of arguing. You wonder when she will calm down and let you love her. You imagine a time- the two of you, a trail, a campfire, a conversation that doesn’t end in an argument. You hope you are doing this right. The parenting The teaching, The being a man. How can you be?

It’s hard loving two hundred kids at work, but the two at home need your attention too.

You come home and play Sufjan Stevens, slightly buzzed as the kids get ready to sleep, wondering if this is what you dreamt peace meant when you were living in the Tenderloin.

At least you have the freedom of these words, the ability to scream your insecurity into the world and await a few likes to valiant your voice. It’s a bit sad that you need it, but what do the people who do not write to release their tension do, in the solitude of their own solitude and darkness.

At least these posts make it feel like someone might hear your angst and make you feel less alone.

Later you’ll watch some TV show, this week one about spiritual awakening and a cult in Oregon, wondering if what you have gathered in life is what you need. You think back to the Rainbow Gathering and the sign that said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings have a human experience.” It feels so lame and cliche now at 43, but on that random Tuesday evening in Taos, New Mexico, it felt like a door way, a promise into something different. Something bigger.

You wonder if there is anything bigger or different in your immediate future.

Tomorrow, you will work on mundane trivial administrative tasks, the equivalent of teaching kids how to jump through hoops, because that is what the system demands of them at this time. Weren’t you supposed to be showing them how to break the system down?

You’ve been sitting in the younger one’s room for a while now, because she’s sacred of her dreams. You wish you could crawl into them with her and show her the wonder beyond the fear, but there doesn’t seem to be any room for you in there. Who knows if you would even know the way.

Not for anything, but you are grateful every night that you are healthy and sleeping in a warm safe bed. You are aware enough to know that most people cannot say the same thing. You remind yourself to get over yourself and your navel gazing petty bourgeois ennui.

You’re not sure how you ended up here, but now that you are here, you will complete the final sentence and get ready for whatever comes next.

Say No to Pressure

Picture a student that’s sitting or standing but look at their facial expression. It’s full of tiresome, stress and their shoulders are tired of carrying the weight of expectation set by others, parents and themselves. On the other hand think about that one person who is excited to go to school after the long summer break. Who would you rather be? Which do you think is the better way to face school?

“Most parents say the grade doesn’t matter, it’ s all about the effort but it’s not true because when you get a bad grade they never ask about the effort.” said Kiana a student from 8JRa. Most would probably agree with her as some have experienced it and know the agitation of those hypocritical words.

In a society where people are constantly consumed by jobs and work and the measure of your success is the key to any further success, grades seem to matter a great deal to students. However in Middle School do the grades really matter or is it the added pressure of something else? Perhaps maybe the whirlwinds of other people’s success, A’s and 7’s, or is it the competition? Maybe the future you is telling you that the things you do now are going to majorly affect your future. Have you experience any of these things?

Mr. Raisdana, and English teacher in UWCSEA and a parent, stated that pressure should be low for students. “My daughter says that if someone is doing something good, she has to do it the same or better. I don’t know where the pressure is coming from...” and who really does? Is pressure this invisible object that is held and dragged through life with a string that can only loosen or tighten but never be cut?

Even though Mr. Raisdana says that he doesn’t think that pressure is a good way to get his child and students working, as a teacher it’s his job to set deadlines to students and sometimes it is necessary to pressure them because things need to be done so that the student and the rest of the class can continue going forward.

Starting from a young age it is inevitable that you will compete, whether it’s the game of tag or who’s the teacher’s favorite, but there is competition the minute you step out into the world and you figure out that there are other people around you. In most schools grades and report cards are given out in the first grade. Aditi, a grade 8 Student of 8JRa says “There is pressure from the first report card. Your parents see it and you automatically think you have to keep it up or do better in the future.” so is it not such a good idea that report cards are given out to students and their hopeful parents at such an early age?

Needless to say that there is a very large amount of students that feel a lot of pressure coming from their parents but it is definitely not the only source of pressure. A lot of pressure also comes from ourselves. In such a crazy world where you already have pressure that is out of your control, why would you add more to yourself?

Mrs.Weima, a councillor in UWCSEA East, says “A certain amount of pressure could be helpful as students are still developing and their parents are there to guide them. Sometimes parents put pressure because they want to help them get to where they need to go. A lot of the times we don’t feel like doing something like homework but a lot of the times Grade 12 students will come back and be thankful for the pressure their parents gave them.” So the pressure that many students find stressful coming from their family is coming from a good place but sometimes it can get overwhelming. Your parents expect lots from you. You don’t want to let them down but you have other priorities. There comes a time when you don’t want to go to school and learning is a pain in the butt but this is a guide for you and it will help you in the future. 

A survey was done that asked 21 students of 8th grade what they thought of when the word pressure was said. Answers included stress, forcing them to do things they don’t want to do, homework and expectations. These words don’t necessarily have a good name to them. The result is a reflection on what this word means to students and how it affects them. Parents and teachers, maybe this is something you might want to think about?

According to Northern Illinois University’s Department of Education, children are more likely to suffer from self-esteem issues and confidence problems if they feel that the parental pressure is too strong. Also if the child experiences too much pressure they might not get adequate sleep affecting their mood and the way they learn. With such expectations and pressure from parents, it could lead to the students cheating or going to caffeinated drink to keep them awake and alert which is not healthy. Adding on Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth says that you should stay away from pushing them too hard on a test but rather encourage them to learn from their test, whether a bad or good grade, so that it becomes a learning experience for both parties.

A lot of parental pressure can be solved if the parents would maybe sit down and talk to their child. Ask them questions like ‘Are you feeling stressed? Pressured? Overworked?’ and you might find yourself getting closer to your child at the same time being a supportive parent that knows how to balance fun with academics. Peer pressure is an inevitable kind of pressure that is mainly out of your control. A lot of the times it will be small things without such a large consequence but make sure to train your brain to know that ‘Yes, I am being peer pressured now. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?’ and make your decision as an independent teen and you can learn from these experiences too. There’s one thing you can control and it’s the pressure you are putting on yourself. When you live in a world where there is so much pressure on you already, why would you put more on yourself? Take a deep breath and pause and realize that sometimes what you are pressuring yourself to do is useless and not the best way to go about things. 

Written by Seika

Math, The 'Most Valuable Subject ', But Is It?

Meghan N., a high schooler at UWCSEA East, stands against the wall of her house’s common room as she nervously taps her foot as she waits for her mother to get off a phone call. Meghan looks up at the white walls covered with post-it reminders of homework, meetings and shopping lists in a failing attempt to distract herself from her mother’s reaction to what she will soon announce to her.

Meghan’s attention snapped back to her mother as she heard the telephone click.

“Mom, the math test didn’t go that well. It was really hard, and our teacher never taught us half of what was there on the test!” Meghan admitted her mother, looking down as she noted her mother’s displeasure caused by her daughter’s confession.

“Why? You should still know, I helped you study, and you went to tuition for what? Five hours? Do you want me to tell your father?” Meghan’s mother snapped, “Never mind that, go read the next chapter in your textbook, I don’t ever want you to come home again telling me you found a test ‘hard’. Till then I’ll set up another tuition session for you,” Meghan’s mother grumbles some inaudible comments while hastily punching in her daughter’s tutors cellphone number.

“I can’t mum, I have a Spanish quiz tomorrow, I need to study for that!” Meghan interjected, while she waved her arms frantically, similar to a drowning child.

Meghan’s mom put her hand on her phone to muffle her voice to the other end of the line, “First go finish your math, then start Spanish, math is always the first priority.”

In the year 2014, many things have changed and developed in the past hundred years, things that have forever changed the way the world works, the way people act and what people believe. The discovery of airplanes have forever changed the definition of traveling. The discovery of nuclear weapons have forever changed the definition of war. However, math still remains the definition of education. In a recent survey by ‘Gallup Poll’ concluded that 32% percent of adults think math is the most valuable subject for children to learn, but is it? Only two out of the ten best paying jobs in America require a major in mathematics. Then why are children taught that math in the most valuable subject thats taught to them in their schooling years? Is it for jobs in the future? Money? Or parent’s personal point of view?

“My mother always told me that math has the most stable career options, and as a parent now, I want my child to have a bright future and math can provide them that, that’s why I push them to strive in math.” A mother of three explains. Many people believe that it is an old mindset that art, English and other majors of such sort will not be able to help provide one stability for a life time. Another father agrees, “In this new era, with so many people following their dreams of becoming a model, fashion designer and other professions like such, the world lacks mathematicians, which is why I firmly believe we need to help our children choose to follow those paths for the better of everybody.”

In contrast, other parents believe that everyone should follow their own dreams and enjoy what ever subject they would like to. One mother believes that Languages are the most important subjects taught in school, “Without languages it’s not possible to communicate, and for that matter, even learn math.”

In the modern day and age, with so many possibilities for career options, and so many opportunities, math is not the only subject that will get you a good job. Do what you want to do and do what you love; and if you love math, go ahead and do math.

Written by Mehak