Andkon's Daily Rightings

Dear The Man Who Stands in Front of the Board,

I was born in Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe under the bald leadership of a man with a birthmarked head. Given my background, when I came to this country over a decade ago, I wouldn't have imagined that the education system here is just as status quo as was the Evil Empire's. I'd think that a course whose etymology is "love of wisdom" ought to amount to more than trite memorization of some dead guy's opinions. But it's all that without the possibility of even a grain of creative input. Where on the test was anything that wasn't just spit-back located? I must not haven gotten that part of the exam.

If I had the same faculties I currently possess, but I received photographic memory, what grade do you think I would have gotten? Considering the questions where given to me prior to the exam in the form of a study guide, I'd say a pretty damn good one. Of course, "study guide" is a euphemistic misnomer as that phrase implies a road to the pursuit of knowledge and not the road to the pursuit of factoids strung together to cheaply imitate coherence. A more apt name could have been "memorization sheet" or "facts-to-be-drilled-emptied-and-then-flushed sheet."

At the time of this writing, I'm of clear conscience and of sound mind. I don't drink, smoke, or commit any other treacheries against myself. You see, the way I look at it, opium is the real opiate of the masses: everyone is too afraid to stand up to repression in their everyday lives so in an effort to forget their failures and cowardice, they seek temporary pain relief. I'm not afraid at all but that's too much of an adversarial stance, one which I do not like. The purpose of this letter is not to insult but to make a deal. As you can easily infer, I don't give a damn about my grades, but I do like to learn. I devour books and write with equal tenacity, both on a daily, if not hourly, basis. So here's my little deal: if you wish to give me any assignments that aren't insults to my intelligence, I'd love to do them. This is taken completely on faith as odds suggest that the mythical creatures known as real teachers do not exist within any four-walled institution. Otherwise, let's forget this whole thing. I'll end up with an F and you'll be another great mediocre figure in my life. The ball's in your court. Will you play along or walk away?

End of Letter,
Andras Konya