A wonderful reminder that memory is selective. I survived high school reasonably okay, but even so I remember feeling like I was tap dancing as fast as I could to get through the various minefields. I have absolutely no desire to time travel back, even if I could retain all the experience and perspective I've gained in the years since. I'd still do terribly in math (a family trait) and probably get the crap beaten out of me - something that never quite happened the first time, although my mouth created several close calls.
Looking back on high school, it's wild how little sleep we got. Maybe 5-6 hours and then our brains were expected to be in full, functioning, learning mode from 8-3 (without any coffee) ...and THEN we'd drag our extraordinarily resilient teenage bodies to GSC for baseball practice (instead of a nap?). How did we do it?
Tough duty! Great piece! Those tests sucked so much and the anxiety or despair in the room was palpable. Loved math, though! Don’t worry about your father getting hurt on the return to those halcyon days when as always he dominated with wit and quickness—he will be safe as he has acquired some very large friends along the way! 🎈
Great perspective. I'd totally rather be washing dishes or folding laundry or any number of crappy things that adults have to do, than be doing my kids homework.
I couldn't agree more! I proctored for 6 years at the local high school. Torture for those poor kids. Back in the day, I think I took one AP class. They weren't much of a thing. And I turned out ok. Lately kids are over-tested.
I still have nightmares about not handing in a college term paper or being unprepared for a French exam. I never want to go back to having to trade prescribed knowledge for grades. Cruel!!
In my jaundiced opinion, placement tests are designed to measure just how much crap you're willing to endure to get into the college of your choice, and the career path you consign yourself to. Do you have the willpower and persistence to cram large volume of probably useless data into your brain cells? Can you recover it quickly when pressed? Can you figure out how to game the system in your favor? Many are called to higher education, but few are chosen to enter the big-ticket elite. Life is full of tests of our character, wisdom, empathy, willingness to suck hind tit, etc. It's just the price for modern life, unless you prefer living in a cabin in the wilderness living off of poached game and home grown weed.
A wonderful reminder that memory is selective. I survived high school reasonably okay, but even so I remember feeling like I was tap dancing as fast as I could to get through the various minefields. I have absolutely no desire to time travel back, even if I could retain all the experience and perspective I've gained in the years since. I'd still do terribly in math (a family trait) and probably get the crap beaten out of me - something that never quite happened the first time, although my mouth created several close calls.
Looking back on high school, it's wild how little sleep we got. Maybe 5-6 hours and then our brains were expected to be in full, functioning, learning mode from 8-3 (without any coffee) ...and THEN we'd drag our extraordinarily resilient teenage bodies to GSC for baseball practice (instead of a nap?). How did we do it?
Tough duty! Great piece! Those tests sucked so much and the anxiety or despair in the room was palpable. Loved math, though! Don’t worry about your father getting hurt on the return to those halcyon days when as always he dominated with wit and quickness—he will be safe as he has acquired some very large friends along the way! 🎈
Great perspective. I'd totally rather be washing dishes or folding laundry or any number of crappy things that adults have to do, than be doing my kids homework.
I couldn't agree more! I proctored for 6 years at the local high school. Torture for those poor kids. Back in the day, I think I took one AP class. They weren't much of a thing. And I turned out ok. Lately kids are over-tested.
I still have nightmares about not handing in a college term paper or being unprepared for a French exam. I never want to go back to having to trade prescribed knowledge for grades. Cruel!!
In my jaundiced opinion, placement tests are designed to measure just how much crap you're willing to endure to get into the college of your choice, and the career path you consign yourself to. Do you have the willpower and persistence to cram large volume of probably useless data into your brain cells? Can you recover it quickly when pressed? Can you figure out how to game the system in your favor? Many are called to higher education, but few are chosen to enter the big-ticket elite. Life is full of tests of our character, wisdom, empathy, willingness to suck hind tit, etc. It's just the price for modern life, unless you prefer living in a cabin in the wilderness living off of poached game and home grown weed.