HW 44- Big Expectations for School

In the Thomas Friedman article, the main point that he was making, was that we have a failing national school system. The interesting part is, who is it failing? The school systems may be turning out graduates at a lower rate than India and China, but that doesn't seem to be the primary concern of the business world. What they are concerned about is that if we cannot provide these scientists, and mathematicians of tomorrow, than China will. As long as someone, somewhere is being taught and trained to become an expert in technological development. In the article, Friedman quotes the CEO of Intel; Paul Otellini as saying the following:

“As a citizen, I hate it. As a global employer, I have the luxury of hiring the best engineers anywhere on earth. If I can’t get them out of M.I.T., I’ll get them out of Tsing Hua”

This is a quote that provides a really important insight into the way the world as a whole thinks about education. As people, we genuinely want our children to do well, and become successful and intelligent individuals. On the other side of that, is the industrialist perspective. This perspective is that of a person who wants to see schools all around the world turn out workers and assets who will increase the value of his company and develop new technologies as to eliminate competition. Schools as I see it are factories, and the product is ourselves, walking, breathing calculators and minds that the corporate elite can cherry pick to build a more successful and larger company.

In the USA Today op-ed article, the columnist seemed to take a similar position on the topic of school as I have. The idea of school as a factory seems to have historically shown a trend between those who diverted their energy away from school and those who engaged themselves completely in school. In the column, the author Robert Kiyosaki writes:

"The way to train entrepreneurs is almost exactly the opposite of the methods used to train employees. Another common thread about Ford, Gates and Jobs is that they all dropped out of school. This is not to say education is not important, but training entrepreneurs is different from training people to be employees."

The thing is, in my mind, I see myself as a student presented with two options for how I spend the rest of my life. Either I work towards the goal of becoming a wealthy employee, and live as another complacent worker drone, or I figure out how to become part of the elite. The current school system teaches us to learn "skills" that will give us the "competitive edge" when we apply for jobs in our "chosen" career. The system doesn't teach us how to improve the world, how to become a CEO, they teach us that hard work and determination will pay off. But really, it is determination that makes the difference between those who rule and those who are ruled over. The fact is that we are taught to start small, and if we are lucky, we will get to be big.

Becoming successful in a career or field that we genuinely find interesting is rare in America at best. The founder of Ford Motors, Henry Ford showed a strong interest in mechanics from a young age, and with that, he went on to become an engineer for Edison Illuminating Company, and the rest is history. The fact is, that Ford went throughout his life pursuing what he wanted to do. I believe that people who want to be successful have the confidence in themselves to achieve what they want. Schools which set the office cubicle as the limit deny millions of kids the opportunity and the confidence in themselves to change something and do something bigger than themselves.

Of course, I could have summed up the last paragraph by saying that schools teach and enforce complacency, but I wanted to get all my ideas out in this post. Being in school I strongly feel is a chance to gain the skills you need to further your own self, not just get yourself further in the game of life. When it comes down to it, if you are trying to work your way up the ladder in today's world, your not very likely to reach the top. The people in power don't want to see us become successful, they want us to become their employees.

Take the skills and the information you learn in school and use it for yourself. Don't think about where you want to work, think about what you want to create. Think about the company you want to own, not the company you want to work for. Pursue something that you want to do, something you are good at. If you aren't good at it, take your interest out of school. Become good at it. As long as we live a life of settling down, we won't ever be able to break the cycle. Personally, I want to break the cycle, even if it's only for myself.