High school marks the period in a person’s life where they strive to discover who they are as an individual and what they want to pursue later on in their careers. One main aspect of my high school years that has really defined who I am today is an organization called Business Professionals of America. BPA, for short, is an organization that assesses students in developing future skills and problem solving abilities by hosting competitions based off of real world scenarios. However, due to the organization’s co-curricular nature, in order to compete, it was required that a student would have to be enrolled in a career related course, which topics could range from business to health services and to even technology.
As if this requirement was not a constraint enough already, a new rule was imposed on the organization during my third year as a member. This regulation further restricted the types of courses a student could be enrolled in to strictly only business. The rule displeased many of the members, especially those who found interests elsewhere in health services or technology, as they did not want to be forced into a business class just to participate in competition. Since my interests lied in business, it would appear that this ruling would not discourage me, but I also felt limited, even with the original requirements. Personally, as a student, I learn best hands-on when the material can be applied to and simulated through real life situations and this was the manner in which I taught myself about business while preparing for competition. The manner of being in a typical classroom setting where students learn mainly for the sake of obtaining a high letter grade did not appeal to me as an effective way to explore my interests. Therefore, obligating me to enroll in a business course in order to compete prevented me from learning by methods that I believed would best help me to fully understand and retain the information. Upon hearing the news of the imposed rule, many of the members and I placed our complaints and anger upon the district administration, since they directly enforced the limitation upon us. Yet, we neglected to realize that the district administration only acted under the actual institution that had created the constraint, which was the United States government. According to the Constitution, the US government holds the power of taxation, which they can use to fund certain departments, such as education for public schools. Because of the reliance that these schools have on the government, the government can then establish an authority over what and how students can learn. This issue correlates to my situation as I found out that the business department at my school was in need of funding. Due to the increased influx of funds that was then given, there would need to be more students taking business classes to make use of the government’s money, and thus the new ruling was imposed on our organization. However, power does not solely lie within the government, as citizens have the right to petition for change whenever they disagree with a ruling that the government makes. In my case, the members and I attempted to voice our opinions to the district administrator, but there was nothing that could be done. In the end, receiving money had a greater influence on the district administration than the potential harm of limiting the variety of ways that a …show more content…
As human beings, we are creative by nature. We gain knowledge about the world and ourselves each day through exploration and expression. With the absence or restriction of this kind of discovery, our purpose in life is meaningless. That is what freedom is all about – the ability to fulfill authentically creative goals by one’s own chosen method, even if that method does not seem to be the most effective. Human beings can never really grow individually if they are told what to do and how to do it. Just as John Stewart Mill notes in “On Liberty”, it is okay to make mistakes in order to learn and develop effectively. This definition of freedom can also be classified under the term of “positive freedom” as the freedom to do something and the ability to live in a society where individuals can each follow their own passion towards finding their place amongst everyone
As if this requirement was not a constraint enough already, a new rule was imposed on the organization during my third year as a member. This regulation further restricted the types of courses a student could be enrolled in to strictly only business. The rule displeased many of the members, especially those who found interests elsewhere in health services or technology, as they did not want to be forced into a business class just to participate in competition. Since my interests lied in business, it would appear that this ruling would not discourage me, but I also felt limited, even with the original requirements. Personally, as a student, I learn best hands-on when the material can be applied to and simulated through real life situations and this was the manner in which I taught myself about business while preparing for competition. The manner of being in a typical classroom setting where students learn mainly for the sake of obtaining a high letter grade did not appeal to me as an effective way to explore my interests. Therefore, obligating me to enroll in a business course in order to compete prevented me from learning by methods that I believed would best help me to fully understand and retain the information. Upon hearing the news of the imposed rule, many of the members and I placed our complaints and anger upon the district administration, since they directly enforced the limitation upon us. Yet, we neglected to realize that the district administration only acted under the actual institution that had created the constraint, which was the United States government. According to the Constitution, the US government holds the power of taxation, which they can use to fund certain departments, such as education for public schools. Because of the reliance that these schools have on the government, the government can then establish an authority over what and how students can learn. This issue correlates to my situation as I found out that the business department at my school was in need of funding. Due to the increased influx of funds that was then given, there would need to be more students taking business classes to make use of the government’s money, and thus the new ruling was imposed on our organization. However, power does not solely lie within the government, as citizens have the right to petition for change whenever they disagree with a ruling that the government makes. In my case, the members and I attempted to voice our opinions to the district administrator, but there was nothing that could be done. In the end, receiving money had a greater influence on the district administration than the potential harm of limiting the variety of ways that a …show more content…
As human beings, we are creative by nature. We gain knowledge about the world and ourselves each day through exploration and expression. With the absence or restriction of this kind of discovery, our purpose in life is meaningless. That is what freedom is all about – the ability to fulfill authentically creative goals by one’s own chosen method, even if that method does not seem to be the most effective. Human beings can never really grow individually if they are told what to do and how to do it. Just as John Stewart Mill notes in “On Liberty”, it is okay to make mistakes in order to learn and develop effectively. This definition of freedom can also be classified under the term of “positive freedom” as the freedom to do something and the ability to live in a society where individuals can each follow their own passion towards finding their place amongst everyone