a dash of ash

october 18 2019

It’s currently midterms week (already), and although I don’t have any “exams,” I have several papers due in place of them. Because I am on a 3+1 track, meaning that I’ll have my Bachelor’s Degree at the end of three years at this school, my education courses are cut down to eight weeks rather than the traditional sixteen week course. My favorite course within this first term is entitled ‘Foundations of Education.’ Not only is the course interesting to me, but the professor creates a very involved atmosphere, testing our limits in discussions and pushing us to think harder, which is something that I am used to thanks to my high school experience. The course doesn’t just introduce the foundations of education as a whole, but many of the assignments require us to delve into the foundations of our education thus far. I found this incredibly intriguing, as I feel as though my experience has been unique. 

One of the most interesting assignments from my perspective was that of interviewing our former high school teachers as to who their favorite teacher is. It was interesting for me to discover that they too have an educator that has changed their life in some way, shape, or form. Luckily for me, I have had the opportunity of having several. 

For our final paper, we were required to research statistics about our high school and school district, as well as discuss our educational experience and how it has shaped us as future educators. I hadn’t really looked into the data of my high school, so I was looking forward to it. While conducting my research, I came across an article that I had completely forgotten about, yet remembered instantly. About three years ago, there was an article published within the Oakland Post entitled “The International Academy of Macomb: What it was like going to one of the nation’s best high schools.” Initially, this article made my stomach churn, as I completely disagreed with the contents of it. However, after reading and considering the author’s point of view, I embraced it as a new perspective that I hadn’t really considered before and I respect their opinion. 

However, I still completely disagree with them. I’m not going to keep droning on about the contents within the article. (I will link it below if you would like to read it in its entirety) I would just like to provide a few counters to the claims within it, on a positive note. 

To be completely and brutally honest, I did NOT want to transfer schools my freshman year. I was terrified of any type of change in my life, and this one was a big one. However, my mom made it obvious that she thought it was best for me, so I not-so-willingly gave it a try. By the end of freshman orientation, all of my apprehension disappeared. I knew that it was where I wanted to be. 

Adjusting to the IAM was definitely difficult, as I wasn’t really used to studying or actually putting in effort, as arrogant as it may sound. I worked incredibly hard my freshman year to keep my grades up and my head above water, but it was trying. Despite how hard it initially was, I got used to it. The MYP programme was definitely meticulous, but it thoroughly prepared me for what was to come. That is one thing that I definitely walked away with: preparedness. Freshman year eased into sophomore year with no issues, I was thriving. And then, junior year happened. Despite the many arguments I would undoubtedly receive from my peers, IB did not destroy me by any means. Was it difficult? Absolutely. Did it consume a great deal of my time? Of course. But,

Was it worth it? 

This question was repeatedly brought up by one of the greatest teachers I think I’ll ever have. The many pep talks he gave us when he could tell we were struggling all boiled down to these four words. “When I help you down the stairs at graduation, I’ll ask you: “Was it worth it?”” I would spend hours thinking about how I was going to respond to this. As commencement creeped nearer, it completely slipped my mind. It wasn’t until after my name was called, after I walked the stage, when that same teacher was helping me down those incredibly unstable steps off of the stage, that the question even crossed my mind. Part of me didn’t believe he was actually going to ask. Because I hadn’t really thought about a clever answer, I could only give an honest, on-the-spot answer: “Hell yes.” 

But, Why was it worth it? For me, IB wasn’t easy by any means, but it was manageable. It wasn’t the curriculum itself that facilitated me to manage, but rather, the environment that I was in. If it weren’t for the incredible faculty, those who are still there, and those who have moved on, I’m not sure that I would have made it through. I can’t tell you how many times I had near breakdowns in front of my teachers: prompted by issues related to school, as well as by those that weren’t. But I also couldn’t even begin to measure the support that I received from every single one of my teachers. Despite the struggles I was going through at the moment, they constantly pushed me to do my best and follow through with my end goal. I’m astounded by how impactful every single teacher at the IAM is, and I will forever hold my expectations for my future educators irrationally high because of them. Not only did I retain an immeasurable amount of information from them, but I’m able to say that each of them have changed my outlook upon life and everything in between. 

However, I cannot accredit my success entirely to my teachers. My peers greatly affected the outcome of my experience as well. Throughout high school, I sort of floated through different “friend groups,” clicking with them, but then eventually, unclicking. It wasn’t until my junior year that I found who I like to call “my people.” Of course, I had friends that stuck with me through my floating days, but we weren’t as close as we could have been, which was alright. An important lesson I learned in high school is that there are different levels of friendship, and that you can only achieve certain levels with certain people. When you meet your people, you know. I can’t even tell you when exactly we became “friends” because it sort of just happened naturally. I noticed that, by surrounding myself with these people, I became a new person. I was able to thrive because I had surrounded myself with the right people, the people I was meant to be with at the time. 

Throughout my junior and senior years, the years that were arguably the most crucial at our school because that’s when the IB kicked in, I was able to succeed, but also have fun. I joined the powderpuff team (due to the persistence of my friends) and discovered that I actually liked being athletic for once. I joined the Link Crew and was able to establish relationships with underclassmen that I still talk with today. But most importantly, in my opinion, I was able to have fun in class, while still learning an immense amount of material. After meeting my people (I apologize for continuously referring to them as that, it’s just the only all-encompassing term that seems to fit them in my mind), I felt as though I was able to become more active within the school community, and in doing so, I met even more friends along the way. If it weren’t for little moments as simple as getting to school way too early to just sit in our cars and listen to music and talk, I’m not sure that I would have made it all the way to graduation. I know that it sounds overdramatic, but it is all too true. I looked forward to just spending time with my friends; their presence-to me- was something that was irreplaceable. 

So, returning back to where I began. This article. I read it about a week ago when doing research, and it has not left my mind. I believe the single aspect of this article that bothered me the most was that the author determined worth by simple figures: the amount paid for IB exams, the scores on IB exams, and the credits earned from IB exams, when in actuality, the worth of a high school experience is so much more than numbers. This brings upon a heavy question – How do you determine worth? My high school experience consisted of an extensive amount of learning that I wouldn’t replace for anything, incredible teachers that more-than-willingly took on the role of mentor for each of their students, and my friends whose presence alone could remove me from whatever funk I was in. These are the aspects of high school that made it worth it for me, not just a set of numbers.

My experience with high school definitely had its highs and lows, but I benefited from both. I learned a great deal from both the good experiences and the bad, and  I am the person that I am today because of it. I credit a great deal of the success that I have achieved thus far to the IAM. Even though I am a thousand miles away, it will always hold a place in my heart, and I will always consider it home. 

xoxo, Ash