As I get older, I realize there are more and more opportunities I wish I had been exposed to, skills I don’t have that I wish I did. Why haven’t I received such opportunities while at school?

I know it can be argued that students are offered curriculums that include gym, music or art classes. However, more often than not, these classes are only given attention once a week. They are also given to classes filled with around 30 students, making it impossible to be taught at one’s own speed or skill level. An even more upsetting part of this is that when a student is taught in such an apathetic atmosphere, it often kills any motivation and enthusiasm he may have previously possessed.

When I was in high school, I was excited to learn how to play an instrument for the first time. I took music as my elective course (notice, it is merely an “elective”), imagining myself steadily growing as a musician.

I was in a class with students of all levels, and, as you may have guessed, I didn’t get much out of the experience. The only one-on-one time each student received was when the teacher went around the room and listened to see if your instrument was in tune. Afterward, my enthusiasm for enrolling in music classes dwindled, and for the following semesters, I instead chose to take art classes.

The more I consider my experiences with education, the more I wish things could have been different. I don’t understand by what criteria the standard curriculum found in schools was created.

Why do we learn to only associate topics such as math or history with academics? How did the study of dance or art become solely an “extra-curricular?”

I think about this and my mind is bombarded with questions. Why have basic, everyday skills such as cooking or sewing been pushed to the side? Why is education mostly limited to learning out of textbooks? What makes learning how to make dinner less important than learning about erosion?

Education has become a system inclined to tell me what history or science classes I am required to take in order to truly be “well-rounded.” Why is the more artistic side of life ignored until one is old enough to get into a school specifically aimed at painting, singing or cooking? And if one does indeed pursue school specifically in areas such as dance or music, why is it that, until then, these skills are only accessible to those who have the time or money?

If I am going to be attending school for hours a day, I want the curriculum to at least attempt to fit my interests and needs.

Of course, it can be said that not everyone is artistically inclined, and therefore the system is fine as it is. Those that want to pursue things like music can do so at piano classes on their own time. But can’t the same be said in reverse? Why has learning piano been deemed as less important than calculus? Why don’t I receive piano lessons during school time and attend an after-school program to learn equations, if that is something that I want to pursue?

We have been made to think that these parts of life are not as important because they will not bring us success or a good job. In reality, these things have equal — if not greater — significance in our daily lives, and their absence can keep us from enjoying everything life has to offer.