Are we truly prepared?

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, only five percent of Rochester city school district students are prepared to go to college and begin a career for themselves. Being a student apart of this district myself, I can't help but to agree that it doesn't seem as though the majority of students are ready for the responsibility of what college brings compared to what high school gives.

Having visited a few colleges myself, as well as having family members enrolled in different universities, I've learned to understand that college is a serious matter, that should be taken seriously. I personally don't feel that high school fully sets students up for what is expected in college. The quality and amount of work alone is a task in which I personally feel high school just doesn't quite prepare you for. Now I'm not saying that high school does nothing. It sets us up for what's to come, giving us the fundamentals or building blocks in order for students to have a better attempt at succeeding in college. Like anything else in life, you have to learn the basics of something in order to move onto the next level. And although high school is just as important as college there's one major thing I think is equally or even more important then being academically skilled and that's being independent.

When you set off to college you're finally heading out into the real world, and with the real world comes more responsibility and independence then ever before. Unlike in high school you have no one there to make sure you're getting your work done, staying on task, eating enough, sleeping enough. No one is there to get on you about that big project that's due tomorrow or that pile of dirty laundry that's been growing since last week. No one besides yourself. So college can't just be about smarts and intelligence, it also needs to include being able to stand on your own two feet, something that I feel isn't an aspect that's looked upon and considered as much as test scores and grades.

So yes, I agree that students aren't as well prepared as they should be for the world after twelfth grade and that Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard should push for college based programs in schools as well as challenge students more with harder curriculum. Yet if this means getting rid of the arts in art schools I can't support his desire. Arts, as well as sports and even college programs, benefit students so much more then people realize. They not only open up a new way for students to connect to basic subjects such as math and english but also inspire and encourage them too. The arts gives students a way to get a break from full on school subjects whilst still being educational only in a more creative way. Adding these programs to art schools instad of getting rid of the arts all together seems much more helpful to the students as well as the community.