Education: Lesson I - The Introduction

As every week day, I went to school today, which automatically means the obligation of having to confront the most "amiable" class you'll ever come across with ... & on this VERY day, the most unbelievable things occured - as if today were destined to show me the other perspectives of education.

As you may know (or maybe not), I moved from Hamburg to Berlin just after Summer last year due to reasons I'd rather not mention here.
At first, as adventurous-thirsty and enthusiastic a person as I am, I was overfilled with excitement and conviction; after all, I was moving to a more thriving and lively city, going to a new school and thus, meeting all kinds of new people and was getting to know the world a bit more. As a result, I was even incapable of falling asleep the night before my awaited first day, myriad of could-be scenarios playing in my mind.


The "special" day finally arrived, and for me, it was actually rather pleasant (notice the emphasis on "rather"). On the day I took the entrance exam, I had been asked to come earlier at the start of the schoolyear, so that I could be picked up by my homeroom teacher for him/her to bring me to my to-be class. Patiently, I was waiting on a bench in front of the secretary's office, more scenarios playing in my head: from falling in love with teachers, to wannabe typical teen or telenovela scenes flashing by.
"Kristine? Kristine, 10th grade?"
I, still oblivious of the fact that someone was already calling my first name which technically no one addresses me with in the first place, was still absorbed by my typical media-selling scenarios:
in my pictorial world, I was tripping and falling, looking into the face of some typical teenie prince charming, as he mouthed "Kristine" in a Matrix-like slow-motioned tempo (NO, not Robert Pattinson!).
 "Kristine?"
 I suddenly looked up - and saw a man.

- and an apparently cynical baldy one at that (let's just hope he won't accidentally stumble into my blog. Even if he does, Mr. Kr., I love you, baby! P.S: this is meant to be really small.)

"That's me ... Do you mean a 10th grade student named Renée-- err, I mean, Kristine...?" I inquired. He didn't say anything (or maybe I just can't remember clearly), so I supposed it was the right thing to do to just stand up and follow him - which I did.

Heart thumping loudly in my chest, sweat accumulating in my hands and adrenaline rushing in my system, I felt like a bride in her own wedding, slowly approaching her patiently waiting groom who most willingly accepts his bride into his life forever...
... too bad I didn't have any love affairs nor romantic ties with my class... because perhaps then, they would've been (would be?) much more accepting and sociable.



After finally managing to climb about 4 stairs all in all, we reached our destination.
... and my heartbeat suddenly got faster - everyone was waiting outside the locked door for the teacher with the class key to come, which meant, as the new kid on the block, that most eyes were stuck on me (wow, that sounds downright conceited.).

People who know me know that I can be shy towards new people who I don't feel at ease with - and to those who I feel good with, I can be very talkative right at the start.
As I was entering, a pretty, blonde girl wearing a ponytail approached and motioned me to sit beside her - of course, I felt a bit less tense due to the friendliness she was showing ; but I guess I was celebrating too soon. The day ran by and she evidently showed disinterest; (maybe she had thought that I'm one of those "cool people" and was nice to me for this reason -- sorry to disappoint you, baby, but I'm not "mainstream" -- or actually, everyone of us is... I take that back.)
Then I thought: wow, what a pretty, unblemished mask; JUST like a doll.

The rest of the day was just as uneventful - no prince charming, no nothing; not even some person responding warmly once I approached him/her. Robots, much?
During the breaks, I was thinking of what I had left behind and suddenly felt a heavy burden tightening on my chest. Well, what else can I expect? I still needed (need?!) time to adjust.

-- So in the end, that was how my first day ended: down and in the dumps, but still seeing silver linings at some extent. After all, it was the first day. "It'll get better," was what I thought consecutively to convince myself. "It's just the unfamiliarity of something alien. It's normal, I guess."

Yet, after almost a semester of being an eyewitness of almost the same thing every day (except for the fact that people talk to me a TAD bit more <--- EMPHASIS ON "TAD"), I'm slowly losing patience: people try and give, yet don't receive after countless efforts. What kind of lesson is our society teaching?
I mean, e.g: teachers teach, pupils listen, and then disrespect their mentors. Where's the fairness in that? (Ok, so it MAY be just when it comes to some teachers who really deserve it for being unjust as well!)
 

I go to school and I come home - and realize that the education I get in my awesome school is not only book and factual-based, but also education learned first-hand - in the sense of getting insights of how the world can be out there: e.g the "survival" of the fittest", principle of our society - of this consumerist world we live in ; of the working world I'll encounter in the near future - and of my freaking damn class.



Schools teach us things we need to know about our surroundings, to be able to undestand others in an easier manner: social studies, science, math and linguistics; they're all things we necessitate to be able to comprehend how the system works -yet, for me, there's one vital thing education forgets to show us in the long run: tolerance/compassion/understanding.
You may be wondering: "HOW DARE SHE SAY THIS?" 
Just sit in a class for a few weeks and then you'll notice eventually- regardless of whether you're labeled as the "cool chick", "hot jock", "nerdy bookworm" or even as "the teacher".


Can't we do something about this? It's our society.

 

Renee

P.S: sorry if this was poorly written and so hard to understand the main points - I'm so sleepy; it's almost midnight here and I still have to go to school tomorrow. Nite, everyone!