This is going to seem kind of offbeat, but it’s been on my mind recently. I’ve been meaning to get this off my chest for a while now but I didn’t know if you would still accept me.
I was a slacker in high school. Well – that may be a little unfair. Perhaps “underachiever” would be a better word. I always took honors and AP classes, I was always respectful to my teachers and administrators, and I was very involved in extra-curricular activities. In terms of my academics, however, I was very comfortably “above average.”
Truth be told, I’m pretty sure that had I really applied myself, I could have been at or near the top of my class. But for some reason, I was content to turn in half of my homework, skip the whole “studying” thing, and exert the minimum amount of effort required to earn a “B” in class (C’s were verboten in my house growing up). This must have irritated my mother to no end (she’s a teacher!), but to her credit, aside from the “No C’s” thing, she pretty much stayed off my case about it.
I’m not proud of this at all. In fact, I’m actually a little embarrassed. As karmic payback, I ended up teaching at the school where I graduated and had to work with some of the teachers whose classes I coasted through. While I’m sure they barely even remembered my middling performance in their classes, I could never quite shake the feeling that some of them would look at me and think, “This guy was the biggest underachiever I ever had – and now he’s a teacher?”
I’ve been obsessing a bit about this lately as my son recently turned three. He’ll be starting preschool in August and I’ve been reflecting a lot on my slackerness trying to determine when it actually started, what (if anything) contributed to it, and how to keep my son from doing the same things.
I’m sure I’m being a little melodramatic here. I mean, I got into the colleges I wanted to attend, and even scored a Florida Undergraduate Scholarship, but something has always bugged me about why I was never motivated to “give it my all” in class.
I don’t blame my parents for not caring, my teachers for not having better lessons, my friends for being “bad influences,” or anyone else for that matter. But to this day, I wonder what it would have taken for me to stop being so lazy in high school.
If there’s a silver lining (or, at the very least, a point) to all of this it’s that I seem to have turned out OK. I’m a high school administrator with a wonderful family. If nothing else, all of my slackerness has given me a unique lens through which to view student apathy and school reform.
Photo: “Windsurfing Upriver” by bigdadventures.
Dear Scott, This post had me smiling right through it. I was the same- always willing to act in plays, engage in debate, write poetry, but could never get excited about academics. Looking back, I feel there was just ONE reason. I was bored in class. Most teachers could not hold my attention. I found most schoolwork dry. Gimme a project and I would jump at it. Ask me to get creative with a practical, I’d jump right at it. Alas, that rarely happened. Most of the teaching I had was chalk and talk with lots of drill and then some more. Competition and peer pressure never did propel me forward. I knew I was bright and didnt feel compelled to prove it with grades. I see some kids like me at school. They are the ones who I know could possibly not capitalise on the good hand they had been dealt. With some, I am firm, removing them from the inordinately large extracurricular activities they seem to get involve in and focus them on tasks that require patience, concentration and even repetitive tasks- like editing the school newspaper – which is all this and yet challenging. I feel that this training in applied effort, in getting used to giving things your best even when they don’t provide you with sustained excitement is very important. For these are the kids that may head to the world of work unprepared, bright but unready for the demands of the workplace that can be monotonous, and a workplace where getting Bs is sometimes not good enough. Thanks for the post! Best, Vivek
It’s funny because I loved school because I loved learning, but I didn’t see the need to do all that homework…
For instance, I could ace a test on related-rate problems in Calculus, but I would lose points for not doing the required homework. Weird, I know.
I agree 100% with the boredom statement (with of course the exceptions of Miss Scott’s, Dr. Shipe’s and your class, o course). Also, I find that the statement “comfortably above average” could probably reinterpreted as well-rounded. I find that the students who perform well, but not to excess tend to have better managed social lives, extracurricular (sp?) activities, hold steadier jobs, and often better relationships with their family. At least this was the motivation I constructed when slacking through many of my courses. No one will argue with how well-rounded I am though (fat joke).
Man, I hear ya. I did just enough to keep eligible for sports and music activities. I truly believe my 3.4 could have been a 3.8 or above if I would have put in some extra time and effort getting those darned assignments in.
I’m surprised at the number of reformed slackers out there! Should we start a 12-Step Program?
Loved this post and the comment from Vivek. (especially hysterical – “This guy was the biggest underachiever I ever had – and now he’s a teacher?â€) Anyway, this describes my son who is a senior in HS although he is not taking AP courses. Minimal effort, just tries to survive the school day, loves projects, asks his teachers to assign projects, gets ignored by his teachers who he asks to assign projects. Comes home and spends hours online, soaking up information that is geared to his learning style. (he does have a language based LD and text and lecture formats are death to him). You may be interested to read Mel Levine’s book, The Myth of Laziness. He believes every child wants to succeed and it’s up to the adults to determine the underlying neurological difficulty that is preventing success.
Thank you for the comment, Karen. I’ve added the book to my Amazon Wish List.