Accountability

Briana Chang

    “I learned nothing in that class! Ms. Valery doesn’t know what she is doing! I’m never taking a class with her again!” I said to my friend in disgust, as I’m sure we have all said about at least one of our teachers.  But was it really Ms. Valery’s fault that I didn’t learn anything?

    It’s hard to learn about sines and cosines in a lecture if you need a diagram to understand how they are defined by an angle.  While you may need a diagram, the person next to you may need an interactive activity; which student should the teacher satisfy?  At my school we were discussing learning styles, demanding that teachers learn how to make flexible lessons for students to fully comprehend the information taught in their classes. The only problem with that is shown in the situation with the two students learning about the electrons and protons- who should suffer?  A teacher cannot address the needs of all of their students. It’s impossible!  Teachers do the best they can; at some point you are going to have to take advantage of your own education.  If you don’t understand it in class find a book in the library about it, look it up on the internet, or ask a friend.  You are not a child anymore, take responsibility for your education!

Black Dot on a Large Canvas

Briana Chang

It’s normal for people to group themselves with others who look like them in the hopes that they will share other things in common.  Day one, Cambridge School: I spent my day with the students of color: sitting at the “black table” and congregated with them in the back seats of the auditorium.  I was encouraged to be with “my people” because I was attending a  predominantly white school for the first time in my life.  I had never felt like the minority so much, I felt like a small black dot on a large canvas I grouped with other small dots (students of color), to remind myself that I wasn’t the only one.  I wish someone told me that this was the wrong way to go.  Instead of immersing myself into the culture of the school by befriending different kinds of people I kept to one group.  I regret it now because the decision has made it even harder for me to branch out and learn about others.  Don’t make the same mistake.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

Briana Chang

I had never seen so many people smiling before.  Everytime I passed a set of teachers or students there it was, plastered on their faces.  It encouraged me to meet everyone who attended my school.  At first I tried the standard method of approaching saying, “Hey, what’s your name?” but with language, race, culture, and other barriers, it was hard for me to move forward with a strong positive connection to most people.

I decided to play the infamous sport on campus: basketball. I had never played before but realized that the team was a family.  I found myself at home on the court with the ball, practicing for try-outs.  Everyday one of the current players on the team was willing to show me the tricks and tools for the best way to play, building my relationship with others at school.  In the end I had lots of friends and made the team.

If you want to make new friends, go ahead; try walking up to them hoping a conversation will bloom into a friendship.  But if that doesn’t work, pick a sport, club, or group that interests you and you just my make some friends for a lifetime.