Recently in class, I was asked what I wanted my teachers to know about my education and my experience at Rocklin High School.

I didn’t have time then to say everything I wanted to, but here’s what I wish I had said:

I want my teachers to know that grades do not measure intelligence, or at least all forms of it. That my grades do not define me, that a number does not represent me, and that a single letter can never give them enough information to assume my intellect.

I want my teachers to know that the moment my guidance counselor tells me to take one more AP class despite my protests that I can’t handle it is the moment they are telling me that my well-being matters less than my grades do. And I want them to know that this is a reality on our campus.

I want my teachers to know that the phrase “work smarter, not harder” has merit and maybe we should consider this idea more seriously. I want them to know that busywork doesn’t, and won’t, contribute to higher learning. That pretending it will is wasting everyone’s time.

I want my teachers to know that the point of school is to learn and I think that we’re starting to lose sight of this. I want them to know that memorizing is not learning, while understanding certainly is. But we are receiving too much of the former while lacking the latter.

I want my teachers to know that we (my peers and myself included) have grown to expect teenagers to be lazy, unmotivated, and lethargic. I also want them to know that we’ve grown so complacent in this stereotype that it’s hard to shrug off. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

I want my teachers to know that I genuinely want to learn what they are teaching. But I also want to understand, and consider, and debate, and wonder, and think. I want them to know that I shouldn’t have had to elaborate upon that initial sentence.

I want my teachers to know that berating their students for getting the wrong answer will not lead to better class discussions. And that questions are good and wrong answers are even better. I want them to know that the best conversations happen when people disagree.

I want my teachers to know that not every student can be in sports and clubs and teams and have good grades and lots of friends. I want them to know that these students are a rarity; that the rest of us can’t do it all.

I want my teachers to know that four year universities aren’t for everyone. That community colleges and trade schools are okay. I want them to know that they are doing their students a disservice by not showing them all of their options.

I want my teachers to know that pushing for education reform by focusing on test scores alone is not solving the problem, but rather continuing it. The change you are asking for is different from the results you will see. I want them to know that if you want the culture in your school to change, then you must look at the root of the problem, not the results alone.

But most of all, I want my teachers to know this: that their school is good, and has good test scores and good statistics and good teachers. But I think that we need to realize- all of us- that our students are more than a number, a letter, a grade. I want my teachers to know that we are here to learn, not receive the highest percent or test score or GPA.

It’s clear that this issue is bigger than me because we’re seeing the problems I’ve discussed on regional, statewide, and even national levels. I know it’s not something that can be solved easily  and it’s not something that will disappear in the next year, five years, ten years.

But.

But nothing will change unless our environment changes. This cycle is perpetuated by even those of us who claim to hate it. Until the our perception of learning is irrevocably altered, nothing will change because we will only see the problems and not what caused them.

And maybe it’s naive of me, or foolish and maybe a little selfish, but I firmly believe school is for students to learn, and to discover, and to understand. And I’m tired of everyone- teachers, counselors, and students alike- losing sight of this.