School is Not Reality

“Well of course you worked through your planning time, Mrs. Johnson. You enjoy that crunchy yet smooth Snickers. There is no reason I should be hungry before lunch, so I’ll just continue nibbling at my fingernails.”

“Certainly I can hold it until in-between classes, Mr. Franklin. Gulping all that water after PE was poor planning on my part.”

My inspiration came early. I knew in 7th grade. Starving and squishing my legs together, I dreamed of becoming a teacher, so I too could eat and use the restroom whenever I pleased. 

School is not reality, and it’s always struck me as odd that we insistent to the contrary. 

When a 5th grader rushes through his comma rules, we silently scratch “doctor” off the list. When a 10th grader cannot recite periodic table blindfolded, we sigh and hope for the best. We insistent children spend their first 18 years preparing for the “real world,” and yet our schools look nothing like it.

In the “real world”, we pursue our strengths and interests and find ways to compensate for our struggles. I am horrible at remembering appointments, so my phone constantly vibrates with the reminders. I am much better with big concepts and complex ideas, so I rely on colleagues to double-check my details. I do not want people to die, so I never became a surgeon. I am afraid of the ball, so I never tried professional sports. 

School is a training ground for us all to understand our relative strengths and weaknesses and how they intersect with our passions and interests. It is not a proving ground.