What struck me as odd, amongst my peers, was the dedication to “regurgitating” the material, as opposed to learning and applying it to our respective lives. These kids were being groomed by their parents for serious jobs and careers, and yet they only viewed tests and quizzes as assortments of facts to be spit out whenever prompted.

I passed the CORE curriculum (as it was called) because I was genuinely interested in learning about philosophy, art history, and social institutions. I also dug it because, as an aspiring writer, I was allowed to run amok with essays, which was the majority basis for our overall grading. Thus, I ended up at odds with my peers because I refused to “regurgitate” the material. I would only write about what I knew, or what I could at least demonstrate some knowledge of, while classmates were writing their essays from a need to pass and maintain their GPA.

For a while, I got off on the notion that I didn’t have to study or read the materials because I could “write my way” through it, but eventually my curiosity caused me to engage in the curriculum more than I normally would. I felt no need to do homework as long as I was acing my essays, but towards the end I even found myself interested in the homework.

I consider myself educated and ambitious, but on my own terms. My experience, though, has taught me that the reason why people don’t want to embrace education is because they see no practical need for it. Unless it gets them somewhere, people really don’t want to bother with learning.

In short, even the straight A students are looking for a shortcut, if they believe they can attain it. But rather than embrace stupidity, they transcend it and end up being elitists.