Petition for a 36 hour day!
There simply is not enough time to get everything in a 24 hour day. Here is my schedule Mon-Thursday (Fri-Sun are super productive days)
6:30am: wake up/shower/breakfast
7:00am: turn on laptop, get on skype, open outlook, check mail
7:30am: watch the latest rocketboom while packing my backpack for school
7:45am: leave for school
...
2:30pm: get out of school
2:45pm: get home, unpack everything, get a water bottle from the fridge and start drinking
3:00pm: open laptop up and download all emails for work. start work
6:30pm: after working for 3 and a half hours, i realize i won't be able to get enough work done because i have to go to dinner/gym/[ytot]/[tim's pg]/meeting
7:00pm: dinner/relaxation
8:00pm: work work work
11:00pm: i check backpackit.com for the homework assignments in my to-do lists and realize i have too much. so i do my homework until 12:30am
1:00am: sit and realize that there's not enough time in one day to get everything done. maybe i should homeschool... my buddy mark griffo did...
1:30am: start reading one of my books (current one is the fountainhead)
2:30am: sleeeeeeeeeep! good ol' sleep.
NOW... I do understand that there are moments and minutes where I could slip in a bit more productivity; but still, there is no way I can get everything done. Whatever, I'll just plow through all the work ahead of me untill I'm finished with it.
Speaking of no time to do anything else, I decided to give back to the community. I created the UC Davis Aggies Football schedule on Google Calendar. I'll post when I'm going to be at one of the games, hope to see you there ! Click the little Google Calendar icon to get it...
This just says it all.
"The Fountainhead", speaking of Gail Wynand
He had taught himself to read and write a the age of five, by asking questions. He read everything he found. He could not tolerate the inexplicable. He had to understand anything known to anyone. The emblem of his childhood--the coat-of-arms hedevised for himself in place of the onelost for him centuries ago--was the question mark. No one ever needed to explain anything to him twice. He learned his first mathematics from the engineers laying sewer pipesl He learned geography from the sailors on the waterfront. He learned civics from the politicians at a local club that was a gangsters' hang-out. He had never gone to church or to school. He was twelve when he walked into a church. He listened to a sermon on patience and humility. He never came back. He was thirteen when he decided to see what education was like and enrolled at public school. His father said nothing about this decision, as he said nothing whenever Gail came home battered after a gang fight.
During his first week at school the teacher called on Gail Wynand constantly--it was sheer pleasure to her, because he always knew the answers. When he trusted his superiors and their purpose, he obeyed like a Spartan, imposing on himself the kind of discipline he demanded of his own subjects in the gang. But the force of his will was wasted: within a week he saw that he needed no effort to be first in the class. After a month the teacher stopped noticing his presence; it seemed pointless, he always knew his lesson and she had to concentrate on the slower, duller children. He sat, unflinching, through hours that dragged like chains, while the teacher repeated and chewed and rechewed, sweating to force some spark of intellect from vacant eyes and mumbling voices. At the end of two months, reviewing the rudiments of history which she had tried to pound into her class, the teacher asked: "And how many original states were there in the Union?" No hands were raised. Then Gail Wynand's arm went up. The teacher nodded to him. He rose. "Why," he asked, "should I swill everything down ten times? I know all that." "You are not the only one in the class," said the teacher. He muttered an expression that struck her white and made her blush fifteen minutes later, when she grasped it fully. He walked to the door. On the threshold he turned to add: "Oh yes. There were thirteen original states."
That was the last of his formal education.
20-30 hours of work devoted to one class each week?
This must be a typo... Or some type of sick joke. I'm taking two AP classes this year, and in the course description for one of them I quote it -
"Students are expected to spend at least 20 to 30 hours a week or more for this course and it is because it is an Advanced Placement or college level course, and during the short summer the semester is cut in half. "
Ok, there is absolutely NO way that this can be right. You couldn't make me devote more than 30 hours a week to all of school; much less one class... That's 30 hours that you could be learning something relevant. Learning a new programming language, writing up marketing plans, developing a start up. Come on, this is just pushing it. 30 hours devoted to one class ? My parents work 40 hour weeks, and you expect me to take 6 hard classes. That would be 180 hours a week devoted to school. Never. Ever. Ever. Maybe 18 hours... Now that's reasonable.
I think what my entire reason for posting all these blogs about high schools comes down to this: I want applicable real world lessons from my classes and teachers.
I'm going to be presenting some stuff to Will C. Wood's Student Government class in a few weeks about technology, apparently they are looking to bring their school up to date! I can't wait.
Taking the SAT Subject Test
I just registered on collegeboard.com. Taking it in mid October at Rodrigez... If you're going, let me know! I don't feel like going on another rant right now about people studying for the SAT. I think they should give you the test at some random time when you're totally not expecting it, and somehow make it illegal to study for the test. Then it would be testing kids on what they REALLY know, not what they STUDY for.
At my job, I don't get hours and hours to STUDY flash developing when I get a new client. I have to learn it all and KNOW it before I get the client.
The SAT should be the same way too. But whatever, let kids study for it. Good for them.
Did I go to school today?
Every year seems exactly the same, I'm already into the routine. Block schedule 8-10, 10-12, 12:30-2:30. Classes become blurs, days become blurs, weeks become blurs, until you're at the end of the quarter. Another fourth of the way there. The end of the first quarter is already just a month or so away, and I feel like we're just beginning in every class.
I just got out of the bathroom (which means I was sitting there reading) and I tried to remember anything that happened at school today. I forgot what classes I even went to today. I have no idea what I learned. When you get into the routine of school, classes start to fly by so fast. I sit in class listening for the first ten minutes, then zone out and think of other stuff I could be doing for the next hour and a half, then come back to earth for the final ten. Not good, but it's how I make it through every day without killing myself with boredom. Then I come home and have to go through the drudgery of homework. I think school should be left at school. We shouldn't be working 12 hours a day in high school (school = 6 hours, homework = 2 hours, job = 4 hours+).
This all just seems like a waste of time. What's the point of taking classes that are completely erroneous to not only your college major, but waste memory in your brain. At the end of the day, my brain is filled with so much useless crap that I wish I could drain it somehow. Why do I need to take AP Psychology and Government if my college major is Business/Econ ??? I understand why I'm taking Trig, AP Stats, Spanish (bleh), and English 12. But AP Psychology and Government really blow my mind.
Being a well "rounded individual" is a bunch of BS too. When I hire employees for Okapi, I want them to be good at ONE thing, and ONLY one thing. Whether it be developing, designing, or marketing. I don't need a personal that can "do everything," because those are the people that are decent at a lot of things, but aren't great at one thing. Which is exactly what the public school system is turning out; kids that are decent at a lot of subjects, but not extremely skilled in one.
Whatever, I'm just pissed off right now. I just feel like High School is wasting my time. And after this, I'm going to need to get college over with so I can start REAL LIFE. You can learn all you want, but at the end of the day, if you don't take your head knowledge and apply it to real life, you're just wasting time and brain space.
Bleh.
Public vs. Charter vs. Private
I went to the Wood vs. Elk Grove game tonight, and it was quite an experience. It was the first time in a long time that I went somewhere and only knew 5 people; I'm used to knowing everyone. As I sat in the bleachers, I forgot about everyone around me. All the drunk girls dancing, the joke of a halftime show, the people around me who dropping the f bomb every three words, the gangsters, the preps, everything.
I took a step back for a few minutes and started to think about high school. I've had many discussions with friends about this topic: public vs. charter vs. private. My best friend goes to private, another really good friend goes to public, and James goes to Buckingham with me. Here's how it is:
Public school - It's huge. People coming from so many different backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, upbringings, etc... There's always one group of girls that stick together who think they run the school. If you think/act/talk like you're popular, you're popular. It's so big that no one even cares. The school counselor isn't concerned about getting you into college. Hell, the counselors don't even care about getting you into the right classes. Kids are in their senior years scrambling to meet college requirements because they didn't take the right classes in previous years. I give public schools a huge plus for sports and school pride though. It's nonexistent at Buckingham...
Charter school - It's small. At least at Buckingham, the teachers genuinely care about their students. The problem with being small is 1) the sports suck and 2) your school is underfunded. Oh yeah, school functions such as "rallies" and "dances" really, really blow. And at Buckingham, no one parties. Quite a big difference from public school, almost the opposite.
Private school - It's like charter school, but there's one difference. The kids. Kids at private schools [usually] have parents with money. And usually, parents with money means family lives that are stable. These kids have it easy; they don't have to worry about going home and your parents yelling at eachother. This makes school a lot easier, all you have to focus on is your classes and getting your homework done. Usually, private schools have decent sports because they play in leagues well below public school levels. And on a personal note, I love uniforms. I wish that charter schools would make wearing uniforms mandatory; everybody dresses the same, and when you go out, you stand out and people recognize what school you're from. I love that, but that's just me. I know girls hate uniforms...
If I could do it over, I would go to a huge private school. One like Saint Ignacious in SF. But for the first time in three years, I'm beginning to like Buckingham. I appreciate everything about it; the small atmosphere, the teachers who care, and knowing everybody.
I'm launching the new 1221youth.org website in a week from today, so I'll be working like crazy until that's finished.
Dating in high school
Retrospectively, I completely agree with my dad's advice to not date in high school. But hind sight is 20/20. And speaking of vision, I need to get some glasses; it's hard to drive when you can't see the road signs until they're 10 feet in front of you :p...
But seriously, I find dating in high school to be one of the stupidest things ever. I am passionately against it. I know of only two couples that dated all through high school and got married. I don't think I'm being pessemistic about these relationships; I think I'm just being realistic. I try being objectional objective and listen to my friends who are dating, but the more and more I see these relationships fall apart, the more and more I know my view of it is right.
Here's a list of my reasons why dating is a waste of time in high school
#1 - It's a waste of time
All the time that you could be learning, gaining an edge on everyone else in life. While they're out wasting their time with their partners, you are free to learn anything! Oh the possibilities... You could become a senior web developer, an award winning designer, an architect, a writer for the newspaper. All this time could be spent towards something that has relevant to your life after high school.
#2 - It's such a waste of money
Unless you're making $100 an hour, then you have no business taking a girl on extravagent dates. Spending your life savings on your girlfriend's birthday present is stupider than spending it on weed. Well maybe not, but they're both just as stupid. The worst is when a girl is waiting to break up with the guy, but "only after my birthday." I have a friend who did that, she got a Tiffany necklace and then broke up with him 3 days later. Smart move buddy, should have spent that $500 on yourself.
#3 - It's a waste of emotions
Emotions that you can't get back. Ok this is getting kind of gay, enough said about that.
#4 - You lose all of your friends
This is true about almost any relationship; the couple ditches everyone else so they can spend that precious time with eachother. Oh, did I mention that all that time was a waste ? If you've got close enough friends, then they'll accept you back when you've broken up with your "lover." Psh. Writing this makes me hate high school dating even more.
#5 - It's suuuuuuuch a waste of money
Money that you could invest. Money that you could pay for college with. Money that you could buy a car with. Money that you could open a company with. Money makes the world go 'round, not your stupid girlfriend.
Ok I'm done. The list is much longer, but I'm too tired to embellish. Those are my 5 main points, and I'll always stick by them. Because in the end, I'll be right every single time.
Making high school more relevant
I think one of the biggest things that high schools fail in is instilling an ethic of hard work in every student. Out of the hundreds of kids I know, only about 20% of them have jobs they work part time. Their other 80 either have parents that say "school is your full time job," or are just too busy smoking pot (or dropping e)... I think that every student should have a job in high school. I'm not talking about pointless jobs, like Taco Bell or Gap; I'm talking about real-world business jobs.
One of the things that I struggle with most is figuring out what I'm going to do after college; by working in different areas, I have eliminated quite a few. I know for a fact that I don't want to write code after college. I'm not into details; I like looking at the big picture and hypothesizing outcomes. I like computers, but I like people a million times more. These are just a few things I have found while working at TFH and now Okapi.
I think it would be extremely beneficial to high school students to work a real job; they can get a headstart on their journey of finding out what they want to do.
The public high school system
School is back. Classes from 8:00-2:30 every day.
I wake up every morning around 7:00 with another long, boring day of school ahead of me. I grew up in private school, so public school is quite a change for me. Here are a few things that I wish I could change in the system.
#1 - If there are kids in classes that don't want to be there, kick them out
They not only waste their time, but the time of 30 other kids. Give the students 1 chance to change after they are kicked out of the class the first time, but the second time don't let them come back.
#2 - Offer technology classes that are at a college level
I can attest to the fact that teenagers aren't stupid when it comes to technology. We shouldn't have to wait until college to take Computer Science classes. If I had a dream school, I would have entire courses for students to learn programming languages. I would have a Flash course, PHP course, Ruby on Rails course, Java course, and JavaScript course. Students would become extremely good at programming, and could work on real world web applications if they knew the languages.
#3 - No homework
High Schoolers don't do it anyways. Plus all the web developers at the school don't need another distraction :p
#4 - A winter break that is a month and a half
Students would get out of school December 14 and come back February 1. This would give students a chance to get out in the real world and work on web applications instead of focusing so much on school. Completely necessary; students need to apply the things they've done in school or else they'll forget it.
Plus that gives students a month and a half to ski at Alpine Meadows :)
#5 - The school should have companies that support the school
If I was the principal, I would try to recruit the best designers, video editors and web developers. Start your own media company, and the company's revenue would go directly back into the school.
I don't know if any of this is possible, I know I'll probably never work in the education industry. But if I had a chance to start a private school, that's what it would be like.