Archive: Opinions

New York State officially began its school year two weeks ago. For those in the Lansing School District, the doors opened on Wednesday, September 8, welcoming students for another year of learning, discovery, and most importantly, finding a new sense of identity.

Excitement for the upcoming year began among the students as schedules were mailed a week before the official start of classes. For days, phones buzzed and students sent texts to each other comparing schedules and trying to find what periods they would share or more importantly how they could rearrange their schedules to accommodate individual needs.

Most students liked the schedules they received, and the day went by without any difficulties.
For those students who were not as lucky with their schedules, the guidance office has been working furiously to accommodate any necessary changes.

An education ought to reach each student and challenge them to meet higher goals. That does not always mean higher grades. As one of my college professors once told me when I went to him with my mid-term exam marked with the amazingly low score of 34, "Grades mean nothing except they tell me what people know and what they don't know." He sat back in his chair, hands folded across his chest, and just smiled. His words of comfort left me feeling more nauseous than when I had went in.

As the school year enters its second week, my wife and I have been discussing our son's change in attitude toward education. Unlike the previous years, ones filled with dread, doom, and despair as the start of the school year approached, our son actually looked forward this year's start. He spoke like someone who truly had a stake in his education. From the moment he woke up on Wednesday morning until he headed off to school, there was a real change in his demeanor about his education.

He is a sophomore, and perhaps he is beginning to realize that college is just two years off. During the summer, he has been researching various colleges on the internet. A few of his choices are quite impressive. In fact, so serious is this young man's approach to education, he insisted on visiting one of the colleges at the end of our summer vacation. To our surprise, he seemed to like the school even more than we had expected.

My wife and I often look in wonder at our son, the young man who used to view school like a yearly inoculation in the back side. We recall in our late night conversations that same young man who could barely utter a few moans and grunts when you asked him to tell his parents about his day at school. We simply smile with just a hint of pride as our son tells us about his hopes and dreams and future years going to the college of his own choosing. Ain't education grand! And that is to the point.

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