Bethany+F's+Op-Ed+Article

media type="file" key="bethanyf-muckrakers-2012.mp3"

Go to school, get good grades, go to a good college, get a fancy degree, go to graduate school, get a high-paying job, have a family, retire, die. Too many lives I’ve observed look the same. I am really frustrated with society, the educational system, and their emphasis on “being normal.” It is a subtle but brainwashing effect that has begun to control so many lives full of unique potential. First, what if school and higher education isn’t for everyone? The schools make it clear that students who don’t get above a 4.0 GPA and who don’t go to a 4 year university are in some way inferior to those who do. This upsets me because I have seen so many people who struggle everyday to motivate themselves to learn something they could careless about. Each year the education system becomes more and more standardized. It is leaving behind the option of being different. It is pushing students to dream and achieve ordinary and standard lifestyles.

Eventually students become employs. They become employs who work in cubicles or study in labs or maybe they go back to the schools they came from and they become teachers. Some people enjoy their jobs but I feel like the majority of people go to work to because “they have to”. They go to work to become rich. Some of that money goes to necessary things, such as food and a house and driving. And the rest? It goes towards luxuries, building up that person’s status in society.

Outside of people’s jobs, there are families; families to love and provide and care for. However, as technology advances, I feel as though family time is being lost. Everyone lives in their own little world, even when they are sitting right next to each other. Teenagers say they hate their parents, siblings fight, and parents argue. Most deal with the conflict while many simple give up and parents get divorced. This has all become “normal.” It scares me. Where did quality family time escape to? Will couples who have stayed married for 50 years still exist when we are adults? Do people really care more about their jobs than their families?

In the end, everyone retires. They resort to living at home, being cared for by others, and reflecting on their life… and then they die. Death is something people hate to talk about, but if you think about it; what is going to flash through your mind during your final breaths? Will you be able to say that you made a difference and lived the life that you wanted to?

The biggest reason this upsets me is I believe that people aren’t living out their desires. They are simply conforming to what society shoves down their throats. Too many people tell me that my dreams and goals in life are farfetched, impossible, or they say I’m just going through a “stage”. Somehow they think I will get over the way I feel right now.

The reality is, I don’t want to go straight to a 4-year university. I want to travel. I don’t want to get married right after college. I want to live with the poor because one of the things I’ve learned is that those who have the least amount of possessions are the richest in spirit. They have hope, love, and meaning that they rely on to get through each day. My goal in life isn’t to make money and become rich; I want to experience culture and people. I want to be different and I want my life to be marked with adventure and purpose.