TIGblogs - Julia Barry

(This is basically a continuation of the topic discussed by RandomLogic in this post.)
"It is a miracle..." Albert Einstein said those words and when I first read them a few months ago, I was startled by how much they rang true to me. As a public school student for nearly ten years at this point, the number of times I've heard words like these is really unfathomable: "On the test..." "Next year..." "In middle school/high school/college..."

Everything we do in school seems geared toward preparation for one thing: tests. Whether these are tests that will be given next week,

or tests that will be given by the state at the end of the year, or tests that will be given in the next level of education, we are constantly preparing for them. We are always looking to what's coming next. In fifth grade, we had to write everything in cursive, since "In Middle School" (these things are said so much that they really should be capitalized that way) we would have to write everything in cursive. Throughout middle school math classes, we were chastised every time we forgot a pencil because "In High School" it would count against us as not being prepared for class. Now we need to do our research, format our essays, take notes, do everything in certain ways because that's how we'll need to do it "In College." But it's all centered around moving up and getting good grades. What will keep us moving along this education track we're expected to follow? How can we get good grades that reflect well on the school and get us into college?

In elementary, middle, even high school, that's fine. Just keep moving along and doing what you're told -- the most important choice I've had to make in the past month or so was probably whether to take comp sci or Shakespeare for my elective next year. And of course, I considered several things. a) Which will I enjoy more? b) Which will allow me to be exposed to more new things I've never learned before? c) Which will I be able to get a higher grade in?
...One of these is not like the others. Because for the past six years or so, grades have been increasingly important, and they will probably continue to grow even more important for another six-ish. But last year I realized something:
In life, there are no grades.
Basically, our education system is geared toward making us the best students it can. We're taught how to write perfectly structured essays, recite poetry and spell words, memorize dates and names of important events and people, and factor lots and lots of quadratics - essentially, how to get good grades. The goal, then, seems to be that by the time we finish first high school and ultimately (if we so choose) college, we will be perfect students. Unfortunately, at that point, it won't matter anymore.

So my question for you is this: Do you think school is preparing you for life, and in what ways?
(If you know what you want to do when you finish school, do you believe that you are learning skills and gaining knowledge that will help you achieve this goal? If not, do you think your classes and experiences are helping you reach a point where you will know what you are going to do?)

(Photo from UW-Madison website.)