My favorite Education Narrative

I would have to say that the education narrative I most enjoyed was Mike Rose’s "I Just Wanna be Average". I chose this essay as my favorite because I could relate to it on a more personal level. Rose talks about his two year experience in the vocational track at his high school "a euphemism for the bottom level" he calls it. Although he was placed there by mistake, he decides not to enroll in the higher level classes. Mainly because neither him nor his parents really knew any better. He starts out by mentioning the un-stableness of several of his teachers. He says of one in particular, "When his class drifted away from him, which was often, his voice would rise in paranoid accusations, and occasionally he would lose control and shake or smack us." He also went on to say how his gym teacher would routinely hit the boys with a paddle and his English teacher had a terrible lack of lesson plans. It was these types of teaching methods that Rose believes brought a lack of motivation upon all of the students in vocational classes. "Students will flow to the mark you set. I and the others in the vocational classes were bobbing in pretty shallow water." He describes the vocational track as a "dumping ground" for the kids who are just not making it. "Mostly the teachers had no idea of how to engage in the imagination of us kids. Who were scuttling along at the bottom of the pond." This lack of motivation drove Rose and other students alike to become bored. He talks about developing further into a mediocre student. "I fooled around in class and read my books indifferently – the intellectual equivalent of playing with your food. I did what I had to do to get by, and I did it with half a mind."

After two years in Voc. Ed. Rose was informed that when he returned for his junior year of high school he would commence in the college prep program. He describes this as a "mixed blessing". This was a more strict program, and coming straight from the lower track, he had a sever lack of self discipline. He remembers thinking "Why work hard in a class that didn’t grab my fancy?" He struggles through his first year. While he did make an effort to try hard, he resorted a couple of times to copying other classmates and finessing his way through assignments. He grew frustrated with his lack of intellectual progress. "This is not a new challenge." He continues, "There is, rather, embarrassment and frustration, and, not surprisingly, some anger, of being reminded once again of lifelong standing inadequacies." After the devastation of his father’s death, Rose finally found some long awaited motivation from a new teacher, Jack MacFarland. Rose admired his new teacher and appreciated the fact that he genuinely cared for his students. He was urged to push himself in school instead of just remaining that mediocre student he knew himself to be. "I worked very hard, for MacFarland had hooked me." He says. "He gave me a way to feel special by using my mind." Some time had passed and in his senior year, Macfarland eventually asked Rose what his plans for college were. Up until that point, Rose had never really thought much about it. After some convincing, He started applying for schools. With Macfarlands help, he got accepted to Loyola University as a probationary student. This meant that he would have to prove himself as a student in order to acquire a regular status. "At least I was going to college" he says "Amazing."

The inspiring part of this story, to me, is how Rose’s attitude changed throughout his high-school journey. And how by taking these lower level classes, he actually learned a lot about himself that he might have not have ever discovered otherwise. He learned the importance of doing well, not for teachers, friends, or family, but for himself. A lesson that is valuable to anybody. He realized that by applying himself, he could do anything he set his mind to. Rose knew what it was like to have nothing as a student, and to have it all. This helped him form a greater appreciation for himself. Mike Rose now has the lifelong reward of being able to say he carried himself through a challenge unlike any other. And because of that he is as successful and motivated as he is today.