Actual Learning..

As  high school students, we come across the statement, "When will we ever even use this in real life?" at least a few times a year. I am, sometimes, part of the crowd who experiences this sentiment yet never expresses it aloud (Its called having a filter, kids!). With this new school year brings new possibilities, and I would hate to jinx anything, but I believe this is a year of real learning for me!

Not that I knew how to solve algebraic equations and conjugate a verb in French before I was taught how to do so, but this year feels different. I am enrolled in an AP economics course and an AP government course which I think may be some of the first classes which are challenging my most basic instincts and making me deeply ponder my basic views on politics and economics.

I have grown up with certain views and political stances which, in the past year, have been shaken quite a bit. But never before have I felt such a loss of words when it comes to why I am right and others are wrong. It has grown to be one of my favorite feelings when I state my opinion in class, and by the end of the class, that opinion has been altered and is something modified yet rooted in my original standpoint.
Some would read that and feel that I am bending too easily and changing merely because someone disagrees with me. That assessment is false, it is healthy to question your own opinions and, when faced with new knowledge, adjust those views accordingly. That is something I am learning this year. That there are other ways, besides the ones deeply rooted in the beliefs I thought I identified with, to achieve the goals I think to be important.

I am searching for food, and I reach a fork in the road and one path leads to some raspberries and another to blueberries. Lets say I prefer blueberries to raspberries, and I know that there lies a few blueberries at the end of a path that has been distinguished for decades, the other path, also having been distinguished for decades is not an option as it leads only to raspberries. Someone shows me another path to a huge selection of both raspberries AND blueberries. To continue on the path which grants me only a few blueberries would be foolish when this new path leads to a much larger quantity of blueberries. Just because there happen to be raspberries there as well, does not mean I should pass up on the opportunity to have more blueberries. It is only reasonable to abandon my old path and seek greater success. Its not to say that I was wrong before, but it is important to acknowledge when someone finds a more refined and prosperous way than you.

SO, what I am finally actually learning this year is to learn from others, even if they have opposite views from you, for the opposite of crazy is also crazy. And so compromise and balance are the only ways to reason.