Get a Grip on Living Well Today

Chapter Four
School Stuff
“In school we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them.
Yet, if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to
walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk.”
― Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad

    Many students think the “stuff” they are supposed to learn in school is unnecessary and useless.
    “When am I ever going to use this?” is the whining question constantly being asked.
   “Maybe never.” is the honest answer. But it is the honest answer to the wrong question.
    The better question is, “How does what I learn in school help me live a better life?”
    Believe it or not, there are people who live a very nice life, but can’t tell you the name of the tenth
president or how to solve the quadratic equation. What they can do, however, is benefit from the
positive habits they learned and developed in school.

•  learning to listen intently
•  maintaining their responsibility
•  doing things on time discovering how to think critically
•  doing uninteresting tasks well
      The list could continue, but you get the idea.
  Success trumps stuff.
  The ultimate benefit of school is the level of success you achieve by learning how to do the right
  things at the right time in the right way.
  Done properly, school can empower you with the following.
   Learning how to perform with excellence without the need for enjoyment.
   Discovering your best learning style.
   Knowing how to adjust to different leadership (teaching) styles.
   Developing character traits of persistence, patience, passion and integrity.
   Building a strong resume of references, academics and extracurriculars.
  You EARN the right to success.
  Living in this age of entitlement we think that society “owes us” a personal level of success simply
  because we are a living, breathing person.
  The Declaration of Independence says, “….”
  Therefore, after the “…life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness…” we are pretty much on our own.
  It is up to us to achieve or abdicate.
  You will never reach your success potential if playing “Call of Duty” keeps you up till 3 AM or you
  indulge in whacky weed weekends on a regular basis. If your phone bill shows twenty thousand text
  messages per month, you might begin to think there is some wasted time there.
  Nuts and Bolts of A’s and B’s.
  There are some practical actions you can take to help assure you achieving a strong academic
  performance… even if you don’t have a genius gene.
   Procrastinate later.
   Work first, play guilt free.
   Find a smart spot to study or work. (personally, I like a donut shop)
   Don’t go overboard. Set a timer.
   Choose friends who help, not hinder.
  I have had the honor of interacting with almost six thousand students in my teaching career, and each
  one brings something unique to the big picture of being alive. May I share some of their stories with
  you?
  Kids I have known.
  Susan – 1970
  Her tears traced glistening rivulets down sun-bronzed cheeks.
  “Mr. H., I’m going to flunk physics.” she sobbed.
  “Susan, you’re not flunking. Your average is almost 90.” I tried to reassure her, surprised at the worry
  she appeared to have.
  “You don’t understand,” she said almost in a whisper. “I’m choosing to flunk.”
  With that, amid sobs and tears, she explained how her friends had labeled her “snobby Susan” ever
  since the beginning of the semester when she had broken from the grasp of the general level classes to
  enter the college prep classes. Susan desperately wanted out and back in the classes with her friends,
  but her parents, knowing her ability, wouldn’t let her drop from the college prep class.
  Her parents wouldn’t let her drop. Her friends wouldn’t let her forget.
  Susan finished the year with an average of sixty and accomplished her goal of failing the class.
  Blake – 1984
  Blake was trying to explain to me the mini-war that had created numerous clashes in the halls of our
  small town, rural school.
  “It’s the jocks against the nerds, Mr. H.” he explained patiently, trying to justify why he was being
  suspended for two days as a consequence for beating up a classmate. Trying to elicit my understanding
  and also convince me why he shouldn’t be penalized for missing chemistry, Blake’s words were
  precisely formulated and well-spoken.
  At two-hundred-twenty pounds, just over six-feet, and an impressive athletic presence as leading
  tackler on the football team, Blake also had a solid A-plus average in Advanced Placement chemistry.
  As captain of the football team he felt an obligation to lead in this brewing battle, even if the path
  down which he led wasn’t exactly where he wanted to go.
  Even in his stress as he sought my sympathy, Blake couldn’t resist a chuckle as I finally asked, “Tell
  me, Blake, are you a jock or a nerd?”
  Autobiographical – 1953
  It was my first day in the big school. Seventh grade. Mrs. Monroe’s morning homeroom.
  Having spent my first six grades with ten other students in the one-room school up in Bakers Mills, I
  was marveling at twenty-six kids being in the same grade, much less the same room.
  “Hi, my name’s Tommy.” One of the kids who sat right in front of me said. “I’m from the village.” he
  said, indicating the big town of over one-thousand people where the central school was located.
  “Where you from?” he asked.
  “Up in Bakers Mills.” I replied, thankful for his friendliness.
  “Oh, Dog Town!” His tone changed as he referred to the nickname our town had acquired from the
  time in history when dogs did outnumber the fifty-nine residents.
  “You must be stupid.” he sneered. “Ain’t nobody smart from Dog Town.”
  Stan – 1974
  “You gotta be S*%##@’n me!” Stan’s eyes brightened as he watched the smooth stream of water
  from the faucet being deflected almost ninety degrees by the negatively charged rod.
  Stan lived on a farm, milked cows before coming to school in the morning, and somehow ended up
  in my general physics class. Physics fascinated Stan. He even spent time in my room after school
  learning algebra so he could solve the physics problems.
  Stan was a “closet intellectual,” hiding from his friends his interest in academic things.
  “Why don’t you go to college, Stan? Study physics. Be an engineer.” I probed one day.
  “Mr. H., I’d love to, but I’m gonna take over the farm when Pop retires.” he replied. “That’s what I’m
  s’posed to do.”
  The next fall, when Stan was a senior, his father had a stroke. Stan quit school to take over the farm.
  Two years later the farm sold at auction. Stan went to work as a farm hand for his neighbor.
  Today Stan is married to his second wife, has seven kids, and still works on the neighbor’s farm.
  Kevin – 1997
  Kevin had been suspended from school for smoking marijuana and was still under suspicion for
  dealing dope. Now back in school, he sat in the front of the room on the left side table. He sat with his
  druggie friends. Slouched down in the seats and seething with anger, all three played the part perfectly.
  Except for one thing.
  Kevin often hung back after class. Waiting till everyone was out of the room he would ask some
  question of science that had been mulling in his mind as he watched NOVA or Discovery Channel.
  As the year continued an interesting syndrome surfaced.
  Kevin would become intensely interested in a particular topic in class. He became quite vocal in
  class discussions, especially about general relativity and quantum physics. One day his body was
  leaning forward in total immersion in the topic. Suddenly, in a victorious moment of breaking away,
  Kevin picked up his books and moved to the empty table right in the middle front of the room.
  Kevin still hangs with his buddies in the hall. But there’s hope.
  Unknown Students – 2006
  I was leaving my room as first lunch began in the large public school where I recently taught.
  A junior student was about forty feet away when he shouted to his friend walking up behind me.
  “Hey, Dude, you seen Jason around? Don’t he go here no more?” he inquired loudly.
  “Din’ja here?” his friend shouted back. “He got hisself shot.”
  What identifies you?
  Each of my students has their own story, their own identity. I have been fortunate to have known so
  many fine folk, learning something from almost all of them.
  In this world of learning how to be successful in school and the rest of life, there are some important
  questions you should ask yourself.
   What do you envision your life to be like in three years?
   What steps are you taking today to be closer to that goal tomorrow?
   Do you want your own kids to become the kind of student you are today?
  There you have it. School doesn’t have to be fun like a video game or enjoyable like mountain
  biking. But it can be productive and functional, leading to a more successful and beneficial life for you
  and your friends.