The Difference Between Good Grades and Being Well-Educated

(according to me, who is completely underqualified to make this assessment, except as a student).

My ideas that sound contradictory, and won't by the end of this blog post:

1. The most well-educated student in a class may not have the best grades. 

2. The most rebellious (think, questions authority) might be asking for the best education. 

3. The person with the best piece of paper might not be as well educated as the people with inferior paper. 

I think grades are important for societal things, like getting into college and finding jobs out of high school.

I understand the need for standards. They make things easier for assessors, and a grade is a decent indicator of how someone is doing compared to the ideal circumstance.

Here's the problem: Good grades do not equal a good education.

I KNOW. I'm talking crazy talk.

Let me explain:
Grades are a marker of your progress against the standards your school has established. Completing the standard set of informational memorization and mastery of your school's prescribed skill set is called "graduating." So far, I have successfully done that twice.

However, once I got a job, I started seeing a lot of people who were... hmm.... less than well-educated. Adults. People who had successfully graduated. 

I personally think I got a great education at my tiny school, and here's why: 

I can think. 

That's it. That's the difference. Good grades are not an indicator of someone's ability to think

There is no measure for someone's critical/creative thinking ability in standardized testing, or at least, I haven't seen one. There's something great about telling kids, "there's no wrong answer, just go for it," and meaning it. 

I was talking to a friend from junior high/high school, and we realized we are good at learning. As in, I feel comfortable talking about a subject I know very little about, because I know I'll learn. I feel comfortable relating a new subject to one I know. 

So this is a non-comprehensive list of things I think well-educated people should be able to do/qualities of well educated people (disclaimer: this is an opinion piece by a college student. I am sure I will come back to this topic in ten years and wonder what I was thinking).

1. Well-educated people know the difference between their tastes and what is good/bad. 

I don't like certain shows. I just don't get the appeal of certain books/movies/bands/subjects/shows/art pieces, etc. However, I do know that my taste is not the be-all/end-all taste. If I tell you a book is good, I mean it was well-written overall. That might not mean I like it. Hence, I think The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a fantastic piece of American literature and you would have to pay me to ever read it again. 

2. Well-educated people can relate A to B. 

What? I think it is a mark of a well-educated person to be able to take new knowledge and contextualize it by using knowledge they already have. For example: A student learning about A Midsummer Night's Dream might do well to pull in their historical knowledge about Athens and Grek Mythology, and just let it set up shop in the back of their mind. 

3. Well-educated people know they don't know a lot. 

I'm not an expert in any field. Period. I had the same job for three years and constantly learned about the inner workings of my job, more effective sales techniques, etc. I still don't know anything about anything. 

4. Well-educated people aren't scared of educators. 

I've started to think of teachers as teachers. As in, people who are present in my life for the sole purpose of helping me gain knowledge. As in: they don't hate me. They probably want me to pass and do well. They want me to master the subject they have spent their lives mastering, to the extent that the class is taught, and then beyond that. I used to be afraid of teachers in real life, like they wanted to be superior to me. That's not how that works. 

Look! A teacher! I touched one! 

5. Well-educated people want to be taught more than they want to be right.

I think it is a mark of a well-educated person to jump into situations where they know they will be the least knowledgable person. They would rather make mistakes that lead to mastery, then be perfect and mediocre. My youth pastor on Maui is fluent in 7 languages. I've been listening to him be bad at a language my entire life. Sure, it's a different language every few years, but the point is, he sits there and does badly until he gets it.

So in conclusion: good grades show you learned some thing. Being well-educated means you learned to love learning. 

Five of My Personal Legend-Level Songwriters

I take my music lyrics pretty seriously. I'm all about hooks and catchy melodies and great beats (by the way, most people are talking about great rhythms when they say they like a song for the beat. It would be weird if people liked songs about beating women because 72 BPM gets them turnt). 

But the point remains: I really, really like good lyrics. And great music.

A great songwriter, in my opinion, is one who writes great lyrics while using the song structure to give additional meaning to what is said, and who is interesting to listen to. You've got to have both great musicality and great lyricism, otherwise you're a composer (no lyrics) or a poet (no music). 

About the legend part: I think of things in lists. Normally. However, there are some artists I can't rank. There are stories I can't rank. I can't say Lord of the Rings is BETTER or WORSE than The Chronicles of Narnia. I might like one better one day or another, but I think they belong on a list without rank. Basically, a list of all my number-one-favorites. 

So, to recap: 

LEGEND: the tied-for-first items on the list. 

SONGWRITING: poetry with music

That being said, here's a list of five songwriters that cycle between being my favorite all the time. 

I've also put in five songs from each of them and which project they did it with, so you can find the darn thing. 

*Disclaimer* This list is not comprehensive (read: I will revisit this topic the next time I have a difficult week, or whenever I feel like it). Also, I am sure I'm going to do one of these lists with bands instead of songwriters. Just not this week. 

LEGEND: EMMA POLLOCK 

BANDS: The Delgados, The Burns Unit, Emma Pollock

Paper and Glue - Emma Pollock - Watch the Fireworks

Emma is fabulous in every way. I was introduced to her when she was a part of The Delgados (who are also legends in my mind -- the first song I heard from them is here.). 

It takes a rare artist to really confuse me with their lyrics, without confusing me. 

Let me explain. I like it when I get every line (things make sense and aren't in gibberish) but I also like it when the meaning of the song escapes me the first few times I listen to the song. 

Also. Emma Pollock is Scottish. Done son. 

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. The Light Before We Land - The Delgados

2. House on the Hill - Emma Pollock

3. I Could Be A Saint - Emma Pollock

4. Paper and Glue - Emma Pollock

5. The City Consumes Us - The Delgados

Baby Emma! So cute. 

LEGEND: MATTHEW THIESSEN

BANDS: Relient K, Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes

Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down

Oh goodness. I don't know how he does it, but I always feel a deep personal connection to Relient K albums. For your reading pleasure, I've included some favorite RK lines, all penned by Thiessen:

"I'd rather forget and not slow down than gather regrets for what I can't change now."

"Been convincing myself that I'm worthwhile, because I'm worth what I'll convince myself to be."

"I feel like I was born for devastation and reform."

Dat internal rhyme tho. 

Plus, he wrote the most epic 10 minute song I've ever cried to. It's here.

FIVE LOVELY SONGS (all from Relient K):

1. Forget and Not Slow Down 

2. Deathbed 

3. Boomerang 

4. Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

5. Therapy  

LEGEND: BEN GIBBARD

BANDS: The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab For Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed

The magic of Ben Gibbard is not his voice or his lyrics. It's the combination of the two that makes his songs so memorable. He puts a hundred pounds of weight in every simple line. The layers of meaning are just INSANE and I can't get over it. #sorrynotsorry

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie

2. Your New Twin Sized Bed - Death Cab for Cutie

3. We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service

4. Brand New Colony - The Postal Service

5. Talking Bird - Death Cab for Cutie

LEGEND: MAT KEARNEY

BANDS: Mat Kearney

Mat Kearney - Can't Break Her Fall

This guy though. He's all like, oh, I'll learn to play guitar. I guess I'll play covers. Oh. I suck at covers. I guess I'LL JUST WRITE FREAKING BOSS SONGS FOR FUN. 

Not every white guy can rap and play guitar at the same time. But Mat Kearney can.

Not everyone can write an epic ballad about their dad. Mat Kearney can. 

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. Can't Break Her Fall 

2. City of Black and White

3. Closer to Love

4. Hey Mama

5. Fire and Rain

LEGEND: JON FOREMAN

BANDS: Switchfoot, Jon Foreman, Fiction Family

Jon Foreman - Somebody's Baby

Out of everyone on this list, I think Jon and Emma are the most versatile writers, but Jon has a style all his own. Beyond that, it is rare that you hear an artist in three simultaneous projects, where every song is clearly identifiable as belonging to one project or another. I figured more of you know Switchfoot, since they've been around since the late 1990's/early 2000's, but since not everyone in the entire world knows Fiction Family, here's a link to a great song. Seriously. 

FIVE LOVELY SONGS: 

1. Souvenirs - Switchfoot

2. Betrayal - Fiction Family

3. Give Me Back My Girl - Fiction Family

4. Somebody's Baby - Jon Foreman

5. I Am Still Running - Jon Foreman

There you have it: Five of my legendary list songwriters. 

Let me know what you think about it! 

I found all of my photos by searching for the artist's name in google image and none of them belong to me. 

All of the songs belong to their respective artists. 

Procrastination Is Not Cute

Occasionally, I go on a rant about how annoyed I get at underclassmen.
Or newbies.
Or students of mine.

I'd like to apologize, because I realized I don't mind inexperienced people. I don't mind people who don't know where something is, or what something is called, or don't know that, if you want to look good while being lifted, you have to do a lot of work.

Throwback Noah Clark and I. Thanks Aida for the awesome shot.

I don't mind any of that.

I don't like procrastination. I just don't. 

I don't like the attitude that it's "fine." 

I don't like it when people play the "let's see how long I can avoid an assignment" game. 

I hate it when the procrastinator acts like it's "cute" to do it. 

You know why? 

Because it's not. 

It is not cute when you stayed up all night to finish an assignment... after spending the entire weekend watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Or Doctor Who. 

It is not cute when you act as though you couldn't have produced better work, because you didn't have the time. We're in the same class. We both had a month to write the paper. 

It is not cute when you take ten years of piano, yet you still read music like a second or third year because you continuously put off practicing. Continuously. For TEN YEARS. I know that, because I did that, and I wish I hadn't. 

(by the way, this is my public apology to Mrs. Jerome)

PROCRASTINATION ISN'T CUTE. 

I'm not saying I didn't do it. I'm saying that I can see how infectious and bad it is for me, and I think I should have gotten my act together a long time before I did. 

The reality is, if you want to make something of your life, there will always be more, not less work. 

There will always be math. 

There will always be taxes.

There will always be papers. 

There will always be reports. 

There will always be research.

And you will always be the one to determine how good you are.

Now, before someone says that I'm being unfair, I'm throwing two things out there: 

1. I am a high-functioning procrastinator, meaning that I can get away with it, and used that for years (unless, of course, it was for Mrs. Jerome, who always knew. Always. She's like Snape that way).

2. I am not saying that you have to drive yourself crazy with work. I'm saying you need to manage your time. Some assignments take an hour. Some take twenty. Be honest and figure out how much time you need to do an AMAZING job and give yourself that much time. 

God gave us all a day off. On the same list as "Do Not Murder" and "Do Not Steal" and "Do Not Bear False Witness" there's a rule about "Take A Day Off Once A Week."

And I do. Oh, I do. I take my Sabbath, and work my butt off the rest of the week. And I don't do it so much that I stress myself out. 

But here's the thing: FIGURE YOU OUT. 

• When you need to take a break, take one. Just work for longer than you break. 
• Do you work better in the morning? Evening? I work better near the beginning and near the end of my day, so I usually start doing some required thing as soon as I wake up, take a break around lunch -- and relax for a couple of hours -- then resume work. 
• Make a schedule and work long term, multiple part tasks into your routine. Read a chapter a day. Do a journal entry. Practice your musical instrument. 
• Start a project, and then stop. I mean it. Start your paper, write for twenty minutes, and go back to it in a couple hours, if it's due that week, or days, if it's due in a couple weeks or more. Your brain is an amazing thing, and will be processing your work in the back of your head as you go about other tasks. 
• Make a list. All the time. Check stuff off. I actually put my breaks on my list, so I manage how much time I'm not working. I even have an app, Wunderlist, to help keep me on task. 
• Do you work better with music playing? In silence? I've been typing with headphones in and no music playing; I'm conditioned to work better with headphones in, whether or not there's music. 
• Speaking of music, see if music without words or in a language you don't understand helps you work. I do a lot of writing to instrumental music; if it has lyrics, they can't be in English or easily distinguishable. 

 

In case you thought I was joking.

• I pile up all the books and binders I'll need for my homework on the kitchen table and put them away as I get through that class's work and assignments. It helps me visualize all my work. 
• Calendar alerts are a beautiful thing. 
• Arrange your tasks so very different tasks are back to back: laundry, then writing, then cleaning the bathroom, then math, then going to the post office, etc. It keeps your brain from imploding. 
• FOR THEATRE: I learn my lines best after the scene is blocked, so I have to work extra hard if I want my lines memorized before that happens (read: if I don't want to give the director a heart attack, my script is on me at all times until the show opens). 

But seriously, figure it out. 

Because procrastination isn't cute. 

It's just not. 

Thoughts? Opinions? Let me know!

Procrastination is for babies!