Varun Jaitly
Being Dumber than Me
In 5th grade my teacher told my parents I had ADHD, and I can’t function properly in class because of it. If you look at my grades I was actually excelling in Science and History -My two favorite subjects-. My problem really was that she kept shoving information down my throat and wasn’t sure why I wasn’t learning, hell I didn’t even know why I wasn't even learning. I had an issue with relaxing and sitting back and taking in information, I wasn’t learning because I was being taught the wrong way. Now don’t get me wrong Im not saying she was a bad teacher, just that she didn’t have the tools to teach an “Off the walls” kid like me, and I dont blame her I was batshit crazy. Later on I realized that school isn’t setup to specifically teach you, I needed to learn how to learn in my own way and that was my first barrier to learning.
After 5th grade I was a repeat offender of not doing homework, failing tests, daydreaming in class and basically not being in tune with the world of the classroom. I dont know why Im this way, I was probably dropped as a kid but still I wasn’t going anywhere fast. It was clear to everyone but me that the traditional “School” wasn’t working for me, and that was something I had to deal with. The problem is there was no one in my life or at school who understood the problem, that I just wasn’t one of the super smart Asian robots that got straight A’s and could study like college kid for hours. For my school and every school since it was the same problem, they either wanted me to become a new person or they wanted me on medication, or that I needed to be in some resource class. No one said to me EVER, that hey maybe the school isn’t for you, it was always my fault that I didn’t see the use in math as much as learning about my ancestors and how we got from rubbing two sticks together to sending men to the moon. In the end everyone saw it as my fault, even worse was that every other person said it was a “Phase.”
Jump forward a few years and I've barely passed High School and I am now in community college, which is actually amazing. I am learning things I want to learn, and that includes economics, and an English class that revolves around a sociology class. My best experience by far was meeting Brian Lewis, a laid back, surfer-philosopher dude who had this great way of getting the class to think about society. Of course I instantly became that “Kid” that raises his hand to answer every question. This wasn't kissing up, Ive realized this was me learning. I realized through my college courses that I am not a robotic “write notes down then eat the notebook and shit out straight A’s” kind of kid. I was the kind of person who learned basic concepts and then ran with those concepts and furthered my knowledge through discussion and conception of ideas. I enjoy being wrong, because usually being wrong wasn’t something I did instantly but rather a process of going through ideas and finally reaching a final destination, then I would find out I was wrong.
In Conclusion, my college classes and Mr. Lewises class was an eye opener that now I am in college, a place where I can learn the way that best gets through to me. This has been a great experience because Mr. Lewis, rather than shut me down and say I needed to do an outline and do everything exactly to a “T” he supported me and pushed me to learn my way and helped me this way. One of my major shortcomings was my terrible grammar, I couldn’t structure my sentences properly. I can only imagine how this essay looks...The point was that Mr. Lewis liked my essays but saw- as did I- That an essay with great points but not structure or grammar will not go the distance and wouldn’t do my ideas justice. I have definitely understood where in my writing process I can change this, yet I still need work and Im glad that I can take Mr. Lewis’s class again. I think that the Adults running schools need to understand that learning isn’t a “One Size fits all” Scenario. If it was then Id be in Harvard right now, probably. 