Learning has experienced a transformation. No longer are we, the students, interested in discovering new things. We don’t care about finding something that we actually enjoy learning; we can’t. People are finding jobs that pay the best money, or going into fields of study that are the easiest. And in high school, we learn so that we pass the tests.

You look at your calendar and find that you have a test in history that you didn’t study for at all. So, in all the classes before it, you cram. You remember the dates and the general idea of what you’ve been learning long enough to throw it all down on the test before you completely forget it all. How does this help us? How are we supposed to become educated; how are we going to contribute to society if we don’t know anything about the country we live in or its past? Even some of the teachers focus only on your grades, how well you do on tests because their jobs depend on it.

We are becoming an ignorant, apathetic generation. Students choose to finish assignments at the last possible moment; we study the night before; we practice once and say we’re ready. Gone are the days where the students came to school to learn, to find something they love and run with it. Now, we come to school because we have to; we pretend to listen without gleaning any information from the class.

Even students who work hard and study ahead of time aren’t really learning. We take all the AP classes we can; after all, we need to watch our GPA and class rank. But a lot of colleges aren’t looking at weighted GPA, they look at extracurricular activities, your involvement in clubs, and how well-rounded you are. There is a huge division in the student body; there are some who take off periods to have free time, and there are those who take them because they think there aren’t any classes left to take. What about the FUN classes? Take some classes you enjoy to break up the monotony of AP classes.

So, how can we make students want to learn? Should we shorten the school day? Punish them for not listening? The state of Texas is attempting to fix it by allowing students to follow the course that will lead them more directly to their ideal job without taking detours into classes that don’t teach any vital information. But is this going to limit their knowledge of the world to the point that they only know about their field of study? Will we live in a world where there are people who don’t know how to multiply without a calculator?

If the school system can’t fix the problem, then the students will have to do it themselves. We will have to find something, anything, that we enjoy learning about. Then, once we’ve found it, we have to study it. I don’t mean study for the tests and then forget; I mean really jump into it. Learn everything there is to know about that subject, and, if you do it correctly, you will pass the tests without needing a review. You will find that knowing something, truly knowing and understanding why, will make you realize that learning for fun is possible. Not only is it possible, but it’s the best possible way to become an active member of this society.