School Can Be Either a Very Uplifting

¶ … School can be either a very uplifting and inspirational place or a daunting place which serves to discourage the student. I am on the verge of completing my college educating and receiving my degree. Other people have not been able to have this achievement. Some people have had issues in life which has prevented them from a straight line through education and have to perform what may be seen as unnecessary tasks to prove their educational aspirations. In "The Second-Chance Club: Inside a Semester of Remedial English," authors Eric Looker and Sara Lipka write about a class of students who have to take remedial English and who are not particularly pleased about having to do so. There are many differences between my regular college course and remedial English, but there are also similarities between this remedial class and my own. My class is for credit so I seem to care about it more, the students in the remedial class have more external problems that might hinder their performance, but the thing that we have in common is the fact that by taking the class we are improving ourselves and preparing for future successes.

In the remedial class, they are not receiving credit for taking the class. However, they are required to take the course because it shows proficiency which will then allow them to take more advanced classes. The students are on the whole not well behaved and even show disrespect to the teacher. The authors write, "Some students aren't trying. They come late and play solitaire. One day just four have done their homework" (Hoover). At a regular college class, this kind of behavior would absolutely not be tolerated. In my classrooms, I have seen some students who are unprepared or who do not pay attention to the instructor, but this is always the exception rather than the norm.

The different students discussed in the article all have back stories which explain why they were not successful students before. Some of them have had personal issues or family problems which stopped them from succeeding. Others simply did not want to put in the work to succeed. One story, that of student Dominique Parrish was very enlightening for me. "Growing up on Chicago's South Side, she attended public schools where students walked through metal detectors every morning. Both her parents had run-ins with the law" (Hoover). Most of the students in my class have not had such hard lives, at least not to my knowledge. The people I know have tended to be raised in supportive households where education is encouraged. There are far more cases like Dominique's in remedial English, where their troubles were not their own doing than I had originally supposed.

Despite the differences between my class and the remedial English one, it is clear that in both scenarios there are at least some students who are dedicated to their education. In the article, several of the students report that they went to school because they know it is the pathway to a better life. Kenneth, one of the students who don't pass remedial English and have to take it again is quoted as saying, "You're not forced to learn…You decide if you want to learn or not" (Hoover). This is true in my college course as well. Students are taking the initiative to register for classes and then putting in the effort to go to classes every day. This is a universal thing and it does not matter if you are remedial English or an advanced engineering class; you have to want to learn to make the effort.