The past is never forgotten. As a Waterloo Region District School Board student, we're faced with the pressures of normal teenage angst. The pressure to succeed, find a good job, "be the best you can be".
A few years ago, the school board launched alternatives to daily schooling: online, evening courses, correspondence, all aimed to help "customize students for success".
Especially those who were struggling with normal high school. I feel I stand alone as one of the students who has tried to make the most of their experience, and hit a brick wall. For many students, the issue is not the mandatory subjects, it's the content.
Even with our "freedom to choose our electives", we are severely limited in the choices, and apparently, the quantity as well. Entering what I hoped would be a very busy final year, I approached my counsellor about taking on three more courses each semester, so I could graduate with my classmates.
I had hired a tutor, got parent support, as well as teacher support, ready to sign on the dotted line.
Instead, I had my self-confidence shot down, every error I made tossed into my face, and a suggestion that I was more than welcome to leave the high school, if I was so dissatisfied.
After several attempts to see what other choices I had, I was told that "I seemed unfit to handle the extra workload" and they didn't feel comfortable signing me up for another course.
Instead of graduating on time, I am now forced to graduate with students much younger than me, without the support of my school, because the past lives on in the future.
A lot of students make mistakes, fail courses. In fact, the Grade 11 applied English course has about a 73 per cent failure rate, the first time around.
I hope the other students who are trying to reconcile their past errors get better treatment and reception than I did.
Published on Sept. 09/08 in the Cambridge Times.
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