The Green Degree
We all want to know the ending before we even start the story. We want to feel like we are in control. It's why we make laws, analyze elections, and debate if Micheal Jordan is better than Lebron James for hours.
It's why when our kids turn 5 years old, we ship them off to America's largest competition, and we pin them against other 5-year-olds to see who is better at math or science, or reading. School is like the Olympics, except in the end, most kids don't get a medal but instead, get chronic depression and anxiety.
I think there are a couple reasons for this.
First, we force them to compete rather than collaborate. Johnny vs. Johnny, Jill vs. Jill, and in the end, we get a society filled with a bunch of people who will literally stab you in the back for a $2 coupon to McDonald's breakfast.
Second, the subjects in school have limited real-world application. For example, unless I am a chemist, I don't need to know what fourteen elements make up Francium (not sure if this is even true). Instead, I could have learned how to do my taxes and that eating purine acids after 4PM will make me piss all night.
Finally and maybe most important, school can steal your spirit if you are not in the in-crowd. If you are not in Mrs. Bernstein's book club or sitting at the popular table at lunch, you are lost in school. Since the real world is just high school with suits and ties, it's no wonder there are a bunch of lost souls today.
I took a different approach in life, and I think the school system can learn something. I chose camaraderie over competition and building genuine relationships with all of my employees. Instead of pinning them against each other, I made sure to go out with all of them and made the janitor feel just as important as the head accountant. Schools should encourage camaraderie and connection instead of outcasting the weak links.
When it came to knowledge, I built my own curriculum. I learned how to eat and what makes me feel good. I became a Yoga master to learn to control my mind and breath through the hard times. I ran the New York City marathon with one of my best friends and built a memory for a lifetime.
Imagine if the average school curriculum focused on being healthy and happy instead of being obsessed with meaningless test scores. Imagine if there was a Marathon Day class where the grade was simply based on everyone completing a marathon. If little Jimmy was in a wheelchair, someone would have to push him across the finish line. And guess what, they would want to push him because their grade is tied to the success of everyone.
We would also have a happier and healthier society.
As for the in-crowd, I made my own. I built an in-crowd filled with all types of people in life, from the outcasts to the cool kids. Unfortunately, this is where school fails our children and why some kids with the most potential fall through the cracks. We don't make everyone feel like they belong. If someone doesn't fit the mold of a perfect student or a great athlete, we leave them behind.
Luckily we all get to choose our school subjects after we graduate. So we can choose to lift each other up and learn what makes us happy. We can choose to build our own in-crowd with people we love.
My degree is the Green Degree, but yours may look much different. As it should. Because we are all different, and we all have a different perspective on life.
That's what really makes us human. Not knowing the ending but enjoying the journey and respecting everyone's unique path in life.
-The Green Dreamer
