LiveJournal 10/9/2003 –

New York State is going to lower the standards for the NYS Regents Examination System because it’s “too hard”. I got my little Regents seal on my diploma after years of studying (easy to study when your a high school pariah) and I took my Chemistry Regents Exam after a night of violent sickness – took it in the nurses office with a giant jug of pedialyte to remain conscious and balanced – passed out 3 times during the exam BUT even still, I achieved a 93% on that exam. I know that the little sticker meant nothing to anyone but me since attending a SUNY school was a foregone conclusion for a New York State resident and you could attend any of those schools with what, at the time, they termed “A local diploma”. I still have it with me, my high school diploma – with my shiny gold-leaf seal, and I value it highly mostly because I had to suffer to get it. Now they are going to be handing out those seals left and right to kids not as bright or as well taught as I was (another benefit to attending a “farmers school in the boonies” was my teachers didn’t have any qualms about screaming at students or setting their desks on fire while they were properly chained to said desk while it burned… 

Just makes it cheaper and less shiny now… Education isn’t about fun, it’s about suffering… and learning all you can from that experience. I fear I might be getting a little older because I was just about to say “Kids, these days… arrrrg!” which is something my grandparents have said.