The Importance of Time by Stephen

The Importance of Time by Stephen - September 2023 Scholarship Essay

If you had asked a much younger version of me, "If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?", my answer might have been to plead for less homework, groan for shorter school days, or beg for more time off altogether. But as I have matured, my view on education has drastically changed. It took the disruption of my life as I knew it to make me realize that school didn’t need to have less work or shorter days; it just needed to be more personal and engaging.

In elementary or middle school, I never enjoyed going to class; I always found it boring or tedious. School took up the majority of my day and fed me more information than I could comprehend in the short amount of time we were given to learn it. I often found myself working on my education more at home than I ever did in class. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I thought I could finally catch a break. Of course, it was much more stressful than it seemed, just like the pandemic was for the majority of people. The looming fear of the future, the intense, never-ending boredom, the prolonged social isolation... It felt like torture! But what’s worse, in addition to dealing with the effects of the pandemic, I ended up having to move away from my hometown of 13 years just as I was about to enter high school.

My new school was very different from how the media had portrayed the high school experience. My school only had about 500 students, and instead of the seven periods I had grown accustomed to, we only had four. At first, I was confused. How on earth could I finish my education if I only had four classes a day? How was I supposed to retain so much information at once? How in the world would I be able to sit still for that long? Attending my first few days was, to say the least, absolutely terrifying. I didn’t know a soul in the entire school, and I wasn’t sure if there were any unspoken rules. I wasn’t even sure how to introduce myself to people!

As I got used to my new routine, though, I started to feel more at ease, and after about a month, I started to look forward to going to school. The enthusiasm with which my teachers spoke and the clear love of their job were completely contrary to what I had come to expect in my previous schools. Not only that, but the longer periods allowed me to get to know them personally, which made it easier for me to pay attention to what they had to say and allowed me to see them for who they really were—people who were eager to learn and grow alongside me rather than uninspired instructors who lectured us for 30 minutes a day.

Not only did I get to know my teachers better, but due to the longer class times, I also got to interact more with the other students around me. Thanks to the extended time I got to spend with my peers in an educational setting, I developed stronger socialization skills than I would have otherwise. It helped me become less afraid to be extroverted, so much so that I landed myself in lead roles during my time in musical theater. I learned to be more friendly to people I didn’t know and more confident in myself and my identity around people I did.

I ended up having to move back to my hometown in Florida after my sophomore year, but thanks to the time I spent in North Carolina, I was much better equipped to navigate the world around me in a more empathetic, kind manner. Ultimately, if I were asked what one thing I would change about my school today, I would definitely say that it would be better for students and faculty to switch to a block scheduling system. Not only would this give students more time to digest and retain the information they are being taught, but it would also allow both teachers and students to form stronger bonds and gain mutual respect for one another.