The Redesign of Education

Junior year of high school. The most dreaded year out of all four. The year of countless classes, constant SAT prep, and crazy amounts of letters from colleges. I remember going into my junior year with excitement to be one step closer to graduation. I also remember leaving my junior year with endless amounts of questions and anxieties about what my future would hold. What will I major in? What if I don’t like what I decide to do? Taking the SAT however many times it takes in order to get that score, and staying up late studying countless topics that make you wonder if you will really need all of this information in the future. Throughout highschool we take a series of required courses in subjects from all over the board. Then, at the ages of 17 and 18, we are expected to choose what we want to study and do for the rest of our lives. Of course this is not set in stone, but this decision governs what colleges and universities we look into and ultimately decide to go to. Pressuring teenagers to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives is a breeding ground for stress and anxieties.

Often times the major that students choose at the beginning of their college career is not the same as the major they decide to continue in. This being known, it is clear that students often need more time to decide and realize what may be best for them in the future. Education should be redesigned to capitalize on and efficiently use the period of time that we have before moving on to higher education or other. Giving students more time to immerse themselves allows them to properly utilize their time in higher education instead of spending it experimenting. Higher education often is not cheap, trust me, I would know. Being able to get the most out of your experience there makes it more enjoyable in the long wrong. Putting less pressure on deciding on your future at such a young age takes the stress off of students and makes the task more enjoyable instead of something that is dreadful. Education and especially higher education is a concept that is often hard to get right. Who’s to say which way is right and which is wrong? Nonetheless, I believe that the redesign of education should start and end with what will be best for the student in the long wrong.