Another Day Has Passed

Another day has passed,

I haven't used algebra once.

But my parents keep telling me I need to

manage my time and get a

better grade in math

but I have to do sports and clubs

and volunteer and have a social life

and spend time with the family

and get a boyfriend and have a job

so I can get into a good college

and get married

and have children so they

can go through the same process

so it can continue for generations.

Maybe the reason that our educational

system forces thousands of students across

the nation to fall asleep to their tears

is because they care more about results

then the product.

Because the children they are producing

are the outcome of

4 years of unnecessary

anxiety. 

These adults, 

these leaders of tomorrow are

one part sadness and two

parts stress.

And I am so tired of

school teaching us how to make a living,

but not how to make a life.

Teach me about all the wonderful

cultures of the world and what

I can learn from them.

Teach me how to prepare a meal.

Teach me how to plan a trip.

Teach me how to read a map.

Teach me something I'll actually use

instead of math that I'll never see

outside of these concrete walls.

(M.S.)