Evolution can be a tricky subject to teach in schools. There are many who have deeply religious beliefs and evolution is an idea that is contrary to those beliefs. Many people who have conflicting beliefs with that of evolution tend to fight evolutionary ideas being taught in public schools because they feel that it is sacrilegious. I am all for secular schools. Public schools should be a place where ideas are taught and every angle of every idea is examined. I don’t think that there is such thing as too much knowledge and so all ideas should be taught. Evolution is the idea that human beings, and all living beings for that matter, adapt to their surroundings and within that adaptation they physically change to better adapt. This adaptation can then be traced back through the millennia to chart how we have become the species that human beings are today. This idea traces our beginnings back to primates, which is an idea that many religions find abhorrent. I can understand people not liking the idea that human beings were once primates, although I don’t think it’s a very justified feeling I can at least see the reasoning. What I fail to understand is how religious beliefs seek to obstruct education and hinder the tolerance of new ideas. There is not a religion that I know of that says that every other idea contrary to what is taught in that religion is an evil and terrible idea. Nearly every major religion teaches some sort of tolerance of ideas, so why not be ok with teaching evolution and giving our kids every tool possible in order to do for themselves better than we were able to do for ourselves.
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President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address on Wednesday night. I watched it, as did millions of others, and I paid particular attention to what the president said about college and education in our country. I have often said that America is behind. We spend more money than any other developed country on our public education, yet we barely rank in the top twenty when compared to other countries. The president talked of making college more affordable and increasing Pell grants. The president also spoke of forgiving college loan debts after working in public service. These are all good things, but more needs to be done. It is not colleges that bring down test scores or contribute to our education system being so poor. In fact, only seventeen percent of Americans hold a college degree, so it seems to me that maybe the problem is more about people not having the tools to get into college. I do not think that college is the answer for everyone. There are many people out there that college may not benefit, but the option to go or not to go to college or a four or even two year school should be one that is made consciously and not by circumstance. If we focus more on the K-12 school system and set the younger generations up better to have the choice of whether or not they want to go to college. I realize that the federal government does not have that much to do with education as far as funding and oversight goes, but I was hoping that the president would use the State of the Union address to call on local governments and the American people as a whole to make strides towards a better education system from the beginning. That is the most secure investment in our future that we can make.
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The United States Federal tax code is incredible. It is something that people study for their whole entire professional careers and still come out scratching their heads. I am an educated person, I believe, and I have trouble filling out a simple W-2. “How many dependents live in your house and/or with in a region of your house, home or dwelling, in which, therefore, a payment, blah, blah, blah.” I feel that I am lucky that I don’t make a great amount of money because if I had to actually do my taxes where I had to understand and itemize things I think I would lose my mind. H&R Block give tax classes every year and one year I decided to attend a three hour session in which they had a certified public accountant, who is someone that I would think knows taxes fairly well, or so I hoped, teach you how to do your taxes. The course was three hours long so I did not come out thinking that I would be able to upend an internal revenue services agent with my incredible new knowledge, but I was looking for some comfort in doing my own taxes. I came out more confused than when I went in. With deductions, and tax credits and government forms that are a series of numbers and letters, I didn’t know who the hell I was even supposed to make the check out to. I think that our schools need to have required tax education classes starting in high school. That way by the time we all start making money and have to pay taxes, we will have some sort of grasp on what the hell we are doing. It wouldn’t hurt to incorporate some applicable real world knowledge into our children’s education either.
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When I was in the fifth grade our class took a field trip to the public library. I never really thought much of it and I was pretty bored on the field trip, but then again I was a naïve ten year old who didn’t understand the point of books. As I grew older I began to read more and more and I also started to frequent the library. I discovered that these books held knowledge and that knowledge is a key ingredient to unlocking the greater things in life. There is a line in the movie Good Will Hunting where Will, the main character, is arguing with a Harvard student, reciting lines from history books and Will ends up reciting the exact line that the guy he is arguing with started to say. Will then proceeds to tell the guy that he is spending a hundred thousand dollars on an education that he could have gotten for a dollar fifty in late charges in the library. It is true. The books that they use at Harvard to teach are the same ones that you can find in your local library. Knowledge is something of an anomaly in this world because it is worth so much yet it is usually free to acquire. Public libraries are places that generally tend to be understaffed, underfunded, and under appreciated for their contribution and the potential they hold. If you wanted to start a business you could find hundreds of books on accounting, managing, and even biographies of successful business figures. If you liked to cook you could find a myriad of cook books. There is a veritable mountain of knowledge available at your local library, you just need to check it out.
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If you go to college you will most likely have to choose a major at some time in your college career. You could become a career student and remain undeclared, but you will never earn a degree and you will constantly be spending money and never making it, so I would imagine that would be a tough gig. Choosing a major is not easy. The average college student changes their major at least one and a half times over their college career. I know people who changed their major as many as seven or eight times. I can understand that. You are finally able to choose what you would like to study only to get a little bit in and see another field of study that seems more up your alley. Most times when students get to college they are enamored by the fact that they are able to choose what they are to learn, so they tend to get dizzy with all of the choices. I know that while I was in college any professor that seemed half way interesting usually had some way of dazzling me into thinking that their subject was what I would like to major in. Luckily I had the foresight in many cases to realize a major such as geology had little use to me and I would be stuck with a degree that I didn’t really want to pursue as a profession. The most important aspect of choosing a major is thinking longer than just your four, hopefully four, years of college. You are not limited many times to your field of study when you go to join the work force, but you should find something that holds your interest for the present, to get you through college, and for the long term, because most likely you will be using your degree in some capacity.

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Teaching kids a musical instrument gives them more than just a new way to make noise, it teaches them a new language. Children who learn how to read music have been shown to have higher test scores, better grades, and they even tend to grow up and have larger brains than those that are not able to or had no musical training as a child. Learning an instrument is beneficial for many other reasons than just being smart, though, it helps children develop a new way to express themselves. It is difficult to find your way as a child and there are often times that children feel alienated or lonely, but music and playing in a band can be therapeutic for some children who feel this way. When I was younger and played in the school band I remember it being my favorite time of day because I could be expressive and creative without worrying about insults or criticism from others. Music is more than just a world of notes and rhythms, when you learn to play an instrument you become part of a community. To this day I still play my instrument, not very well and I was never that good, but it still feels good every once in a while to make music rather than listen to it. It makes me sad when I read that as the economy goes south and budgets at schools get cut one of the first things on the chopping block is the arts and music is generally at the top of that list. I would hate to see a generation of children deprived of learning about the beautiful world of music.
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College means something different to everyone. For some it is a way out of their current life while for others it is a forced life, pushed by their parents. I wonder how many incoming freshmen actually have a solid answer to the question of; what is college for? I had a theory professor in college ask this question and the answers from the students were all over the board. One person said that college was to develop an educated and skilled labor class, another said that it was a way for those who have PhDs to have a job, and my favorite was the kid who boldly suggested that college was the instrument used for government brainwash. That turned some heads. Why would the government use an institution in which only seventeen percent of the population was going to, to brainwash them. You would hope our government would be smarter. The professor listened and then gave her two cents. She proposed that college was expanded and made more easily available in order to perpetuate a middle class. Her theory suggested that a middle class bred stability within a society because those who were afforded a house, two point five kids, and a dog were less likely to cause any problems in a society because they had things that they would not lose. I would have to agree with the latter part of her theory but I must say that I truly believe that college is a place of higher learning and not just a middle class builder. I like to think that college has a deeper agenda than to merely perpetuate comfortable living, but even if that is it’s narrow goal, I guess I can live with that.

I like to learn. I have tried many different ways to acquire new pieces of knowledge here and there. I have found through the years that there are any different number of ways to learn. I have read books, talked to smart people, and even found a good bit of knowledge on television. Most educational institutions, from kindergarten to college, choose to teach in the classroom mainly using lectures. I can understand the obvious choice of lecturing, I mean, why show up to class just to read a book in silence? I have found that the lecture can be an interesting and informative form of learning for myself, but it also has drawbacks. I must be engaged by the lecturer. Many academics are not blessed with oratory skills, so often I have found myself listening to a very well educated person who has absolutely no chance of grabbing my attention. If a lecturer was talking about the solution to life and was able to answer every question I’ve ever had it would still be hard for me to learn as I would be struggling to concentrate. A lecturer has a tall order, that is to engage the audience without them participating. Entertainers have the same task, but a much broader range of material to work with. Sitting in on a lecture has taught me a great deal when the lecturer is good. They generally have a breadth of knowledge that runs deeper than just the subject they are teaching and are able to get across their point in an interesting manner. If I had my choice I would have good lecturers always teaching me, but, as with most things, you have to take the good with the bad.
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Many people say that we are all students. That is, we are all learning everyday. Without getting too abstract I think that we all must be forced to agree. Everyday is a new day with new challenges and experiences to be conquered and had, therefore it stands to reason that each day we end we have new pieces of knowledge that were acquired throughout the day. To what extent we learn each day, and how much knowledge we choose to acquire in a given day is entirely up to us. There is much in this world that I seek to know. I have often said that if I had a super power to choose it would be to know everything. If I knew everything than that would include knowing what the future held and how to cure cancer. I don’t know everything, though, but I try to learn as much as I can from day in to day out. I read the newspaper everyday to see what is going on in the world. I force myself to read the sections that are not of particular interest to me because I think that knowledge should be well rounded. I also try to read on my lunch breaks at work as well as before I doze off for the night. The books I choose to read tend to be biographies or ones like my new favorite, “The Book of Knowledge.” I love the title, but let’s be honest, can you really fit all of human knowledge into a 400 page book? I didn’t think so, but they do a pretty good job with the abridged version. All of human knowledge, edited down into a bite size chunk. That book has taught me a great deal, however, and I like that it has taught me a great deal about things that I didn’t know much about before. I think we should all strive to educate ourselves about that which we are not too familiar with. I think we would all be surprised and perhaps even a bit more tolerant of one another.

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Back to school, back to school. This week was my first day back in class after the three year hiatus from the university setting. It’s interesting because this time around, as a graduate student as well as a teaching assistant, I spend half of my time in front of the classroom and half in the back, being lectured. I must say, teaching undergraduates is way more fun than being one. It still feels strange being on the other side of the classroom for once, but I have a feeling I will adapt to it quite quickly. Being the person that students come and see after class has been pretty amusing so far. I have gotten some pretty ridiculous questions and am already getting to hear the lies and excuses that are all too familiar to me from my days as an undergrad. It does feel good to be able to help students out though, as well as making them laugh and learn some new information. It seems that as a TA, I am more approachable than the actual professors, so I’ve been getting a lot of kids who use me as a bridge or go between so they don’t have to deal directly with the head honchos. I’m enjoying the approachability that I have for now. My other role as a graduate student is going okay, but I’m finding it harder to adapt to being back in school than adapting to my job as an instructor. I have not yet regained my student mentality and feel like there is more I could be doing with myself than being back in school. I’m sure once I delve deeper into the program and begin work on my independent research I will appreciate my position as a grad student more.

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