Haley+L’s+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech

=Finding Your Passion!= When growing up did you guys have dreams that you would become the president of the united states, or even a princess? For me, as a child my family loved watching Judge Judy. I found out years later that the real reason they loved watching it was because how captivated I was by it. I would steal the remote during the show, sit in front of the coffee table and act like I was the judge between two of my imaginary friends who were suing each other. I would imitate Judge Judy for the rest of the night, slamming the remote against the table like it was a real gavel. Throughout my childhood, my dream was to become Judge Haley, and use my extremely loud voice, and use it to my advantage.

Once middle school hit, I completely lost my dream of becoming a Judge. Instead I realize now that I completely conformed to the kids around me, wearing the hollister and aeropostale shirts that everyone loved, yet still wearing my Bobby Jack Monkey Bubblegum t-shirts. Throughout middle school you deal with the most awkward stage of your life. You transition from a child to thinking that you are the most experienced person at life. It may be the years of hearing your first bad word, to thinking your the coolest kid in the world when you get new shoes. In middle school, you are still excited about education, not worrying too much about how much you need to study because college has not quite invaded your thoughts... yet.

Once high school hits, all shit breaks loose. Instead of learning just to expand your mind, you’re starting to aim at getting the perfect grades to make the number you will be for college appealing. Freshman year you slowly start the process of stressing completely over grades, having constant reminders around you that this is the start of the years that will go on your transcript that will scream out to colleges, “pick me, pick me!” Sophomore year hits and you start taking all of the honor classes to boost your GPA, stressing out more and more about the next history test, or if you make eye contact with Dinkler and if he will call on you. Sophomore year is the year where the juniors begin to go up to you and tell you that Junior year is the year that will define your whole transcript, being death and how many mental breakdowns you will have.

Now you all may wonder where I am going with this. The truth is I have no clue myself, but I want to grow old in an America where students grow up and are given more opportunities to find their dreams, in school and outside of school. High School students all focus on getting the best GPA to get into college, but the problem is most of them do not truly know what they want to major in, what career they want to do for the rest of their lives. With all of this hard work to get into college, yet still having no idea what they truly want to get out of college, other than that paper, is what will truly screw them all over. College costs a butt load of money and if you are unsure of what you want to do in life, then why not wait? Going to Foothill all you hear is how you need to go to a college straight after, to become the best candidate to get into the top colleges into the nation to bump up the school's reputation and to get you going with your life. Of course they do not say this but it is an underlying tone. However at the age 17 most of us still do not know how to balance a checkbook, so how are we supposed to know what major we want to study that will thus define the career we will be apart of. Instead of forcing students to solely focus on the standards of meeting a GPA, allow students to have an opportunity to explore different careers in a classroom. Have a class that will teach students how to balance a checkbook, how to pay taxes, how to get a tax refund, instead of leaving us floundering out in the real world only knowing how to graph a cosine curve. Transform classes into an area where all kids are excited to learn and know that they will get something out of it. Instead of handing out busy work, hand out work that will help our minds expand and help us be the best person we all can be. Do not punish us when we fall down, but instead help us up, help us dust ourselves off, let us know that we are capable to succeed. I’m not saying that teachers should hold our hands through school, but instead give us an opportunity to know that others believe that we can succeed as well.

Every student has their own story. At home they may not get the support they need, creating a self doubt that can eat them from the inside out. Having a teacher every once in a while give a student a sign that they believe they are capable to succeed will create a positive influence in their life. I for one have a brother who is working his tail off to get into medical school, doing extraordinarily well while also maintaining relationships with the people around him. Sometimes I feel that my parents may be comparing me to him, wondering if I am as smart as him, or if I will work as hard as him and sometimes it tears me down.

In the beginning of high school I did not know who I truly was, but having teachers who constantly gave me words of encouragement helped me realize that I am capable and that I am not my brother's shadow. I know that my parents know that I am my own person, but just like everyone else in the world, I have my doubts about myself. I want to live in an America where people can find who they truly are through school and the relationships they form with their teachers and the people around them. I want to see an America where every student remembers that they are their own person, and they can achieve whatever they put their minds too. When I grow old in America I want to see students be able to find their passion before college, not after it, and within ourselves.