Learning is valuable, but school sure can be a pain

School is the one place that can be a freedom for some and a prison for others. Most kids complain that they have too much homework or that their teachers spit in their faces. These are things that we live through and deal with. The projects and the lack of sleep is what school is all about.

The classroom is filled with drowsiness and tired eyes, especially on hot summer days. Hawaii can be very beautiful, but the weather can change this beautiful place into a sweatbox. Those of us lucky enough to have air-conditioned classes cherish those precious minutes of coolness. Everyone wants air conditioning, but only a few select classes have this pleasure.

Air conditioning costs money that most schools do not have. This year, my school bought $4,000 worth of lanyards that some of the kids don't even use. That money could have been put into the music department or more lockers. The music department only gets about $6,000 a year, but the program needs $60,000.

The lockers at my school are small and packed together. When locker signups come around, the halls are packed with students trying to get lockers. If the school had more lockers, everyone could get one. With bigger lockers, we could fit more than our books inside.

Another problem for students is the school food. Don't get me wrong, the food is great, but sometimes it is a bit hard to distinguish vegetable from mineral from animal. One day, while waiting in the lunch line, I asked the lunch lady what it was they were serving. Her answer was, "Some kind of meat." Some kind of meat was not the answer I wanted to hear. This "some kind of meat" looked liked a piece of pork, or a piece of carpet. I'm sure the food is very healthful and nutritious, but sometimes it makes my stomach turn. Then again, the school lunches cost only a dollar, so you get what you pay for.

School is not exactly the greatest place of education, but it is required of us anyway. The standards are becoming higher. Many high school kids, such as me, are enrolled in advance classes. These college-level high school classes could eventually turn our fragile brains into dust. This is one way to an easier college life. If you pass the advance placement exams, it counts as a college credit. If you do not pass, then it was just a "practice" college class. But at least you have gotten a taste of the work expected from you in college.

College seems so close, yet so far away, and getting into college can be a bit frightful for some. There is the worry of not getting into college, not getting the job of our dreams and not having the life we want. You can't always get what you want, but we ignore this fact and go on trying to get it anyway. These little twists in life are what make it interesting. College is one of the many twists that challenge us. Not only do we have to pay for college, but also we have to pay for the books, supplies and anything else that college throws at us. High school is the only education that some can afford. The best schools are more expensive than buying a house or a Mercedes car.

Learning is fun, education is boring and school is life. We might not always get what we want or change our school to what we want, but we can make the best of it and push through. As long as the sweatbox does not turn into an oven and the food is eaten by students, we can live. If we can survive the challenges of high school, we will have enough strength for college. For those of us still in high school, we need to forget about college applications and focus on our lives now. High school is a test that will reward us for completing.

Emily Darigo is a junior at Moanalua High School.

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