Monthly Archives: November 2012

Alright, give me a minute to channel my inner optimist for this one.

Alright, okay.  Coming at the angle of personal experience, an optimistic view on the public school system is actually fairly effortless.  My high school was a great one–despite all the “I-hate-this-school-get-me-out” haters.  Then again, maybe I’m misled by my blind optimism in general.  But truly, just this past weekend, as our high school football team won the district title for the third year in a row, radio show hosts quipped about my high school, dubbing it “The University of North Allegheny.”  In more ways than one, they kind of have a point; we were fairly large with my graduating class nearing 700 students, we had fantastic sports and academic programs alike, and I don’t care about all the stressed-out students ranting via social media–we had, for the most part, fantastic teachers.

But, for the intents and purposes of this post, North Allegheny does not properly represent the entire American Public School System.  It certainly has flaws (funding issues [cough*Pennsylvania], over-standardization, test-centered teaching), yet I think we truly do not give our educational system enough credit.  I don’t know the statistics exactly; I don’t know the ins and outs of the administration and policy of the public school system either.  In fact, I feel a little under qualified for this post.  But, that doesn’t change the fact that there are areas of the world out there completely devoid of education, and also students who find their poorly-run and resource-deprived schools their most blessed chance at life. While I do believe we should make continually improving our public school systems a priority, we should never look at what we have with complete disapproval; we have absolutely no right to do this, given where we stand in the world.

Really, this is a get-out-of-it-what-you-put-in process.  While most notably shown in the pursuit of highest education (i.e. college, graduate school), the primary and secondary public school system ultimately provides students the opportunity to earn an education–but an education sustained by the effort of the student.  Inner city schools may have poor resources, yes; however, the problem of students’ failure with education in the inner city demographic sinks deeper: the home.  Often times, education is not valued and enforced in the student’s home life, yet this is a crucial aspect to a student’s success and academic development.  Ultimately, education holds a fundamental element of personal responsibility, and it is the responsibility of the student and also his or her family to nurture a respect for and desire for academics.

It’s not always as easy as pointing fingers at the system.

Hey kids, raise your hands.

Who’s dying for Thanksgiving break??

With the never-ending build-up of exams, projects, canning weekends, and just maybe a social life thrown in the mix, a week of blissed-out nothing–save for turkey and pie, of course–sounds like the greatest remedy to the stressed-out-freshman syndrome.  What’s more is the fact that without a fall break, we Freshmen especially are yearning to return home for more than just a weekend.  We need to regroup, recharge, and reload. Truth is, we’re exhausted from all the adjusting and adapting the past couple months has required of us; each day, the idea of returning home to just be sounds more and more appealing.

Or maybe, that’s just me. (But I doubt it).

But, taking center stage in the upcoming weeks is many Americans’ favorite holiday of the year: Thanksgiving.  Established in 1863 by President Lincoln amidst the chaos of The Civil War, Thanksgiving has historically taken place every fourth Thursday of November, in commemoration of The First Thanksgiving involving the Plymouth pilgrims and Wampanoag Native Americans.  Upon encountering suffering, hunger, and illness, the pilgrims who arrived on American shores in 1620 probably wouldn’t have survived had they not managed to forge a friendship with these local Native Americans who had taught them how to grow corn, harvest sap from trees, and much more. Tragically, the friendship enjoyed between these early settlers and the Wampanoags–an alliance that continued to last for the next 50 some years–remains one of the few examples of harmony between the European colonists and the Native Americans.

Today, Thanksgiving exists not only in commemoration of our country’s early history, but also as a time to enjoy good food and good family–without the threat of overbearing commercialism that the Holiday Season tends to carry.  Rather, that Thursday evening offers us a time to celebrate that which we are thankful for with those we are most thankful for.  From the wafting scent of fresh-baked pie lingering throughout the house, to the all-day turkey roast that takes place in my kitchen over, to my brothers and Dad playing football in the backyard…..I. Can’t. Wait.

We all thought Sandy was just a little innocent squirrel from Texas who lived in a bubble under the sea.

WE WERE WRONG.

Instead, this past week, Sandy was ravaging through the northeast with a vengeance.  Power was cut, homes and stores were flattened, and roads were flooded.  But we all know this—this is old news.  Plus, I think more people were seemingly concerned with whether or not our classes would be cancelled.

So how do we be optimistic about this?

Honestly, this is tough.  You can’t really spin a natural disaster as a good thing, but for a second, let me delve into the mind-blowing yet head-scratching complex “Butterfly Effect” it could have. For those of you unfamiliar with this theory/effect/whatever you want to call it, applying it to Hurricane Sandy would mean claiming that however horrible it is, the storm could have some random, unforeseen, totally unexpected and seemingly unrelated–and possibly beneficial–effect.

For those of you familiar with the ideas and correlations in Freakonomics: sort of like that.

So let’s take the most obvious and convenient example: The upcoming election.

Now, I know that there already exists some established correlation between bad weather and elections, and that is that bad weather has historically negatively affected the Democratic Party.  While seemingly unrelated at first, this actually makes sense; city populations tend to lean more to the left, and city populations often rely on public transportation.  Public transportation and horrific weather? Bad mix. Bad enough to deter half-hearted people from the polls.

But let me be clear: this is not a political statement against the Democratic Party and Barack Obama.

However, if history and a couple headlines that I’ve seen are correct, then Hurricane Sandy has the potential to change America by swaying the election either further left or further right.

As frustrated as we may be about election (or maybe that’s just me), the outcome’s effect on our lives is undeniable, and potentially huge.  We don’t know what the next four years are going to hold, but we cannot deny that what happens in the next four years will define our country, the future, and our direct lives in some way, however drastically that may be.

So, while we cannot peer into a looking glass and compare what America after four years of Romney or four more years of Obama looks like, there would inarguably be a difference.  They may look immensely different, or they may not look much different at all.  For the love of God, disregard political parties for a second when you consider this: Have you ever thought about what The Civil War, or any other major historical event for that matter, would have looked like with a different president heading our country? What major decisions would have changed?  World War II?  The Cuban Missile Crisis?  What would America and our history even be today had it not been Lincoln, FDR, or Kennedy?

This may be pushing it, but

Hurricane Sandy may have decided our country’s fate in some way. And, perhaps, for the better.

That’s quite possibly the only positive spin I can put on utter destruction.