“If you're normal, you'll be spending part of the July break preparing for university applications, visiting universities or at least thinking about the process… you’ll be reading “Excellent Sheep” to help you make a more informed, educated decision...”
When I first read this I was petrified. The season of university applications approaching terrified me. I was not ready to finish High School or to move on to a new university. I was not ready to apply to university, to start preparing for it, and even less, to start thinking about it. I couldn’t believe that the time for this had arrived so fast and I didn’t know where to begin. It was then when I realized that actually, I had already made most of my decisions regarding college. Last year I made the decision to study in Lima. Although these decisions went against all I had ever imagined for my future – I always thought I was going to follow the IB Diploma program and study in the U.S.A, as the majority of Roosevelt students do – these decisions made me really happy and confident. After researching, I decided that the best fit for me was the Pontificia Universidad Católica, which narrowed down the amount of preparation I had to complete, and placed me in about half of the “preparation road”. Although this was a relieve and I felt calmer, I was not certain if reading this book was a good idea for me, as I was not really interested in “america’s elite education”. Anyways, I decided to give it a try.
Now, I am thankful for have given it a try. Although I was already completely sure I wanted to study in Lima, this first part of the book helped me reflect upon my school and realize many things. It also made my decision more certain and definite than ever. Instead of reading the book with fear and wanting to give up on education (like some of my peers reacted when reading the book), I read it with confidence and used it to reflect on my school, to compare the IB and the IA, to realize many things about education (or actually “miseducation”), and even to laugh about the system that I’m also a part of.
Through this first half of the book, I could somehow relate to the author, as he has a point of view of someone who has been part of the system for many years, and can now refer to it and discuss it from the outside. Of course, I am not outside of the system (yet), but I sometimes feel that I actually am. This is because I am part of the Innovation Academy. And this feeling I have of not being part of the “elite education” is actually relieving, and the book “Excellent Sheep” has allowed me to discover and finally understand why it is a relieve to not be part of this miseducation (or at least not completely part of it). Many of the behaviors, attitudes, mindsets, and objectives that high school and college students are described to have in the book sound very familiar to me. This is because students at my school, specially the ones that are part of the IB, perfectly portray the attributes that are mentioned by William Deresiewicz. Students believe that education is all about doing homework, getting the answers, and acing the tests. They confuse learning with success, and unconsciously, the system somehow ends up forcing us to choose success over learning. We, as students, have been haunted by the fear of failure all of our lives and are up to whatever it takes to succeed. We are like a pack of sheep, like the book describes it, or as a group of students running through the treadmill of education and jumping over endless hoops. We don’t have time to learn as we are too busy with clubs, bands, projects, teams, APs, SATs, coaches, tutors, "leadership", "service", etc. And we do all of this for the only purpose of achieving high grades and scores, and to widen our possibilities to be admitted into a prestigious college. We never stop to find our true passions and purpose, as we are too tightly tied to the purpose of every other student. This is where the treadmill we were running through, ends up taking us nowhere.
When I first read this I was petrified. The season of university applications approaching terrified me. I was not ready to finish High School or to move on to a new university. I was not ready to apply to university, to start preparing for it, and even less, to start thinking about it. I couldn’t believe that the time for this had arrived so fast and I didn’t know where to begin. It was then when I realized that actually, I had already made most of my decisions regarding college. Last year I made the decision to study in Lima. Although these decisions went against all I had ever imagined for my future – I always thought I was going to follow the IB Diploma program and study in the U.S.A, as the majority of Roosevelt students do – these decisions made me really happy and confident. After researching, I decided that the best fit for me was the Pontificia Universidad Católica, which narrowed down the amount of preparation I had to complete, and placed me in about half of the “preparation road”. Although this was a relieve and I felt calmer, I was not certain if reading this book was a good idea for me, as I was not really interested in “america’s elite education”. Anyways, I decided to give it a try.
Now, I am thankful for have given it a try. Although I was already completely sure I wanted to study in Lima, this first part of the book helped me reflect upon my school and realize many things. It also made my decision more certain and definite than ever. Instead of reading the book with fear and wanting to give up on education (like some of my peers reacted when reading the book), I read it with confidence and used it to reflect on my school, to compare the IB and the IA, to realize many things about education (or actually “miseducation”), and even to laugh about the system that I’m also a part of.
Through this first half of the book, I could somehow relate to the author, as he has a point of view of someone who has been part of the system for many years, and can now refer to it and discuss it from the outside. Of course, I am not outside of the system (yet), but I sometimes feel that I actually am. This is because I am part of the Innovation Academy. And this feeling I have of not being part of the “elite education” is actually relieving, and the book “Excellent Sheep” has allowed me to discover and finally understand why it is a relieve to not be part of this miseducation (or at least not completely part of it). Many of the behaviors, attitudes, mindsets, and objectives that high school and college students are described to have in the book sound very familiar to me. This is because students at my school, specially the ones that are part of the IB, perfectly portray the attributes that are mentioned by William Deresiewicz. Students believe that education is all about doing homework, getting the answers, and acing the tests. They confuse learning with success, and unconsciously, the system somehow ends up forcing us to choose success over learning. We, as students, have been haunted by the fear of failure all of our lives and are up to whatever it takes to succeed. We are like a pack of sheep, like the book describes it, or as a group of students running through the treadmill of education and jumping over endless hoops. We don’t have time to learn as we are too busy with clubs, bands, projects, teams, APs, SATs, coaches, tutors, "leadership", "service", etc. And we do all of this for the only purpose of achieving high grades and scores, and to widen our possibilities to be admitted into a prestigious college. We never stop to find our true passions and purpose, as we are too tightly tied to the purpose of every other student. This is where the treadmill we were running through, ends up taking us nowhere.
A year ago, I had the luck and also the courage to (as far as possible), step away from this “miseducation” and step forward to a “meaningful life”. I took this meaningful step when I decided to join the Innovation Academy. Success is no longer my priority, learning is. I am no longer trying to stick to the same purpose most of my peers have. Instead, I am trying to look for my own purpose and starting to pursue my own passions. Students in the IB are discovering their passions for success, while we, the students in the IA, are discovering our passions in life. The IA has finally put our stop to our fear of failure. On the contrary, it is encouraging us to do so, so that we can learn even more. Also, there are no tests we have to ace, or rubrics we strictly have to follow. We are FREE TO LEARN. Reading this book helped me identify the main difference between the IB and the IA: The IB teaches students how to "be students", not to use their minds, while the IA does the complete opposite. |
One thing that really stood out to me in this first part of the book was when the author discussed the irony that elite students are told that they can be whatever they want, but most of them end up choosing to be one of a few very similar things. I found this part of the book so accurate and I could really relate it to most of the people I know, even me. I thought that as everyone’s “next step” from the MYP was the IB, and that the “next step” to that was going to an Ivy-League, or any American prestigious school. As I already mentioned, it was when I got into the Innovation Academy when I stepped away from “miseducation”, and decided to follow my own path. What most called my attention about this part of the book was this, “...How can I become a teacher, or a minister, or a carpenter? Wouldn’t that be a waste of my fancy education? What would my parents think? What would my friends think? …” I read this part at least 3 times, as it made me reflect and I could really relate to it. Even though in the book this refers to getting a job that is not so "prestigious", I connect it to myself. How can I stay studying in Lima after being in Lima's most prestigious and international school? Is it a waste of my "fancy" education? When all of my friends are posting on Facebook "Yale class of 2020" or "I got accepted into Stanford", etc., and I am posting "Ingresé a la Católica". What are they going to think?
Thankfully, before and after starting this book, I am still confident about what my “next step” is, and I am glad that I am not following the pack of sheep and I am finding my own purpose, my own passions, and taking my own decisions, the ones that best fit with me and will make me happy.