I didn't really find myself enjoying NPR until I got into high school.
I wanted B96 on family car rides, but I got "This American Life" with Ira Glass instead.
For those of you unfamiliar with "This American Life," it's a radio program that examines different social themes. Recently they've taken "This American Life" to cable and now it appears on Showtime every Sunday night.
Today's episode got me thinking; one of the segments dealt with the idea of time in high school- "will we really remember the things that bother us most today?"
Will I remember making the vital choice to take AP Math over regular?
Will I really think back on my years at Stevenson and remember how much I didn't want to serve my two detentions?
The fact that over three years I skipped one class?
The social system at stevenson values these kinds of trivial thoughts as major stepping stones. I feel that according to my counselors one of the most important decisions I can make is to choose to GPA waiver an elective or opt for a level change.
But the truth is I won't remember most of high school. I hope to remember my favorite English teacher. I can never forget my grandmother's funeral, the accident with my mouth, my first real boyfriend...
So little of what I do matters to my memory.
So many things that society stresses are really meaningless in the long run.
I'd like to think that when I settle down, my high school GPA won't mean a thing.
Its true nature will be forever unknown.
If my kids ask me I can lie comfortably knowing that I had better things to remember than that.
This is a clip from an episode of "This American Life," it poses a few different sociological questions- see for yourself.
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Your favorite English teacher??? What about remembering your sociology teacher?! Haha. You won't have to remember - we have the blog and it will last foreverrrrrrrrrr! Thanks for sharing that video. I wish it went further - I don't get showtime! Anyway, I also want to say thanks for all of your blogging this semester. I know I gave you a hard time about using academic langugage, but I really did enjoy all that you had to share. It was creative, insightful and well-written.
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