Analysis Of I Just Want To Be Average

While reading the essay “I Just Want to be Average,” by Mike Rose, I noticed how his schooling experience was opposite of mine, there were few similarities between the education aspects and drastic differences. It’s not fair how the public education system works to prophet those students who have already been deemed successful before becoming an adult. Looking back, I can see how I was treated; being outgoing, energetic, academically inclined and lettered in four sports. I was passed along, seen to be successful in my educator’s eyes, I was “going somewhere,” despite coming from a poverty-stricken household. I utilized school as my escape from my home life, in specific sports. Compared to other students who were withdrawn, didn’t speak …show more content…
I took all the negative and made it positive, I was determined to make it out of the ghetto and do something with my life, it was hard keeping that mentality all three years. Rose talks about a specific student, Dave Snyder and upon reading about this young man I realized we had more in common than I would have expected. Rose writes, “There was Dave Snyder, a sprinter and halfback of true quality. Dave's ability and his quick wit gave him a natural appeal, and he was welcome in any clique, though he always kept a little independent. He enjoyed acting the fool and could care less about studies, but he possessed a certain maturity and never caused the faculty much trouble.” That was me in high school, I used sports, I played them to win, to win for myself, not the school but my own pride. On the contrary, I cared about my studies, it was one thing I knew could never be taken away from me. Whether I was educated by the system or myself, at that age I knew I needed my education to make it a little bit further in life. As a result, my sports could have been taken from me at any time, but my knowledge would stay with …show more content…
In addition, Rose writes about students who get warped into the Voc. Ed. system, that they do what they deem as necessary to survive the monotony, “Reject the confusion and frustration by openly defining yourself as the Common Joe.” These students aren’t becoming individuals, rather prisoners serving their time, conforming to the situation in which they are in. Reading this reminded me of my determination to finish high school, I didn’t want to strive to conformity, I didn’t want anything from high school but my diploma and to never look back. Being that, there were students who needed more from the school, however “the teachers had no idea of how to engage the imaginations of us kids who were scuttling along at the bottom of the pond.” These are the kids who also deserve their chance at success, the ones scuttling at the bottom, they are still young and possibly ambitious, it is up to the educators to find what works for all students, or at least 80% to be a successful