Learning

Dear Friend,

Today, the phrase "doing school" often has a negative connotation to it. As current students, we are constantly surrounded by high levels of stress due to school. We've seen everything from people frantically rushing to print their latest history paper to cramming for their upcoming biology test. These high stress situations often result in tears, short tempers, and chaos- the epitome of panic mode. It is very disconcerting and upsetting for us to see some of our classmates turn into sleep-deprived zombies with the passion to learn simply sucked out of them. Doing school should not solely be associated with grades and evaluations, it should be about our love for learning. It can be difficult and challenging, but we should not have to drag ourselves out of bed each morning just to attend school. Instead, we should realize how fortunate we are to have an education in the first place and remind ourselves of our favorite subject and why we love it. The two of us don't have a favorite subject; we think each one is special in its own way.

English
First and foremost, English is very important to us because we use it in everything we do. We wouldn't know how to communicate without being able to speak, read, and write properly. However, when we think of English, we often associate it with  imagination. Having no limits on imagination allows us to pick up a book and suddenly be transported back to the Middle Ages or write a creative story about a parallel universe. English allows us to expand our thoughts and realize how endless possibilities are.

Math 
We both agree that math is definitely one of the more challenging subjects. We are taking a statistics class this year and we just finished up IB SL 2/AP Calculus last year. However, as difficult and frustrating these classes can be, math is a subject we highly enjoy. Math is all around us and can be applied to almost everything. When we're in math class, it's almost as if we've been transported to a whole different world where we only speak "numbers." Math allows us to use our problem solving skills, which can be very beneficial to us in real life situations. By trying new methods to solve a problem, we are able to look at situations with different perspectives.

Sciences 
We can never escape science. Science is evident in our daily lives- it explains how trees change colors in the fall, how cancer develops, and how we are alive as human beings. We love science because it brings out the curious side in all of us. We are constantly asking questions and trying to find answers to them. Science is the foundation for innovation.

The Arts
Often time, we restrict ourselves into very linear thinking. In art, there is no right or wrong answer- everything is abstract because we are able to express a wider variety of ideas and emotions. Art also teaches us to be flexible because things never go as planned- each theater performance, art piece, and song is different. Creativity goes hand in hand with the arts because it allows us to pursue knowledge in our own unique way.

History 
In history class, we are exposed to so many cultures, perspectives, and ideas. By looking at historical events, some say we can learn from our mistakes. However, the two of us don't find that totally true- if we really learned from our mistakes, why are events that happened hundreds of years ago still occurring today? We don't learn from our mistakes- we just do them better.

We could probably go on and on about why we have such an affinity towards all these subjects, but it all comes down to our passion to learn. Whether it's the feeling of satisfaction you get when you finally solve a math problem or the thrill you get when you realize how the human body functions, learning is so valuable. To us, learning doesn't mean sitting in class and jotting down pages of facts- it is about finding so much joy in absorbing the given information and being able to apply that to daily situations. So, even when "doing school" gets tough, don't forget to remind yourself or others about the drive to learn.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."  -Gandhi 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine