Ryan Astudillo

8/31/11

After reading the first four chapters of Mike Rose’s Why School? I found that Rose made some pretty interesting points about education and just how important it really is to us. The book started out with revealing a bit of his past. He had a friend named Anthony whose educational level was not at the average point as most people his age. At age thirty, most citizens have a stable career. The fact that a brain injury had caused him to stumble in his early childhood years is so heartrending. It is inspiring to see someone who is so determined to educate himself and go back to school in hopes of leading a better life. Anthony commented to Rose, “I like being here. I know it can’t happen by osmosis. But this is where it’s at” (Rose, 2). This quote really touched me. As someone who could not quite get the chance to fulfill his educational requirements, he finds pleasure in staying in a library surrounded by knowledge that has been passed down through generations of our time.

Education gives us an opportunity in life. That opportunity is a chance to become something great. We have the chance to go to school. With that chance, we are able to get good grades. With good grades, we become the top of our class. At the top of the class, we can be recommended to the highest caliber of high schools and colleges. After college, we can become a researcher. As a researcher, we can find cures to the many diseases humans suffer from today. However, as Rose stated, “Except for the rare event-a winning lottery ticket, the surprise departure of someone in a coveted position-circumstances typically don’t just combine, don’t randomly fall our way” (Rose, 8). Opportunities do not just appear in front of us sometimes. We would have to work our way towards our goal through our own determination. Luck can sometimes befall us, but it is up to us to take advantage of it to shape that lucky chance into something we can use.

The story about Stephanie Terry and her class was very intriguing. The way that she taught her class was so powerful and inspiring. She brought to her class a glass case with five hermit crabs inside. Her class, filled with wandering intrigued eyes, became curious about them. Curiosity was exactly what Terry wanted her students to feel. The students asked where their natural habitat was and she responded with a demonstration. After the crabs were given warm water, they started to actively move. Her students became shocked, as I would be, while at the same time intrigued. They gave a report the next day with their own observations. This was where it all became interesting. Each of them had different interpretations about what they saw that day. Compared to just reading about hermit crab habitats, the students were able to see first-hand how they react in different temperatures of water. With that, they could deduce what kind of environment they favor. As Rose explained, “Over time, you see, you feel something: it’s the experience of democracy itself. The free play of inquiry. The affirmation of human ability” (Rose, 41). There is no better way of learning than a hands-on experiment that could the students really get involved and act for themselves. It is teachers like her that make school interesting and worthwhile to go to.