We Are the Future

Coming to Brown has made me realize a lot of things. Little sayings that I had heard so many times that they had almost lost meaning are actually becoming accurate. "Your generation is the future" is one that I've been hearing for years. Only recently have I realized that this is reality! Sitting in class today, we were discussing the healthcare bill that just passed. For starters, I'm still overjoyed to be learning in an arena where politically aware conversation can even occur, nevertheless to have people who are actually intrigued by the topic to be speaking about it. In my high school classes, even if we are talking about current events, there's usually one general viewpoint that most everyone agrees with. Of course, there's also that one guy who argues just to argue, but thankfully my macro class is lacking one of them. In any case, it was a wake-up call for me, to realize that in a couple years, I'll be voting on issues that are relevant and significant. A few years after that, people my age will be running for office. I know that there is only a small percentage of a chance that I'll know anyone who's running or elected into any kind of office, but there is someone who is my age right now, a part of my generation, who grew up watching the same TV as me, who is going to president someday. And to be honest, if I do know that person, I'll know them from here. Brown University is full of people who are extremely bright and ambitious.

I've met people here who have been preparing for college applications from the time they were in 4th grade. In 4th grade, I was more concerned that my stuffed animals were lonely. However, I've always considered myself as reasonably smart; I took APs, honors classes, and scored well on the SAT. When I'm amidst a couple hundred students that I'll be competing against to get into top tier schools, though, I can't help but feel deficient. As much as I love ECHS, and am so grateful for all of the amazing teachers I've had, the simple fact is that students who spend near $30,000 dollars on school per year have gotten a better education than I have. A lot of fundamental algebra and english is simply missing from my repertoire; this comes back quite often to trip me up in higher level classes. I don't mean to complain, I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything in the world, but I just wish that I could have it all.