Switched-On :: Blog

In the past few weeks, New York school officials discovered a high school cheating ring of sorts. Basically, juniors worried about their ACT’s or SAT’s would drop several thousand dollars in order to get someone else to take their tests for them. Apparently one of the test-takers, a guy, was able to take the tests of both male and female students, which does not inspire much confidence in our test security officials. Anyway, the teens that paid for scores were undoubtedly trying to get into better schools, which shows how crazy the whole college system is. People are more than willing to pay several thousand dollars to be accepted into prestigious private schools, where they’ll pay tens of thousands more for a diploma mostly because of the school’s name. Putting aside the question of how the students even got the money to pay for these tests, the whole story puts our college system in a bad light. There’s an unhealthy fixation on simple scores, which can be bought or gotten unfairly and ignore much of what is meaningful about someone. Then there’s our desire to impress others with the name of our school, which has little to do with actually learning anything and a lot to do with pretentiousness. By cheating, students get themselves in positions they can’t manage, paying a lot of money for little value.
- Will

For me, the hardest thing about college hasn’t been the classes. It hasn’t been social issues, or homesickness, or having to wear sandals in the shower. The most difficult thing I’ve encountered so far has been something I’d been waiting a while for: freedom. Not that living at home is like prison, but there are a lot of restrictions that don’t apply now that I’m on campus. Even a small thing, like not getting asked by my parents about the work that’s due soon, or how I’m doing in a class, can make it a lot harder to actually get assignments done. I haven’t had problems with turning things in late, but only because I’ve resorted to putting post-its on my computer (and in more obnoxious places, like my shoes) to remind myself to get stuff done. I don’t dislike my newly obtained freedom, but in order to appreciate it you have to put some work in. For people in my position, who are still a little flustered or feel overwhelmed by swirling to-do’s, I’d recommend writing stuff down. Trying to keep everything in my head just wasn’t working, and by making a to-do list you can keep everything organized. Plus, it’s more than a little satisfying to violently scratch out a just-completed assignment, leaving you one step closer to being done and wasting time on the internet.
- Will