Why do we come to school? To learn.

Countless memories of monotonously repeating this call and response in the NJH lunchroom ring through my head. However, as my own graduation approaches, I am hesitant to submit fully to the central principle of “learning.” I ask myself: is this message of learning truly conveying the purpose of education, or has it become synonymous with rule-following and not disturbing the peace?

It’s clear to me that my past teachers and administrators have reiterated this message for an essential reason: we cannot learn if we are misbehaving or distracting ourselves; we must learn if we want to succeed. But the message I have not received is one of what true success is and how it is acquired.

The civil rights leader, philosopher, and educator Howard Thurman once said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Unfortunately, I feel as if I’ve been spoon-fed the tools to ask what the world needs and submit to it. I have learned about “in-demand” fields of study and those that are hopeless or dying. I’ve taken “career search” tests that have made me feel boxed in and worried, rather than empowered and confident in my skills.

I have not learned how to come alive. I have not been told to explore, discover, or look inside of myself. Passion has been diluted in favor of practicality.

Thankfully, along the way, I have had many teachers, peers, mentors, and supporters who have helped me realize the importance of discovering what I come alive for, and the resources at HHS have been crucial to my self-exploration. I have had classes and teachers that have pushed me to find my voice, articulate my thoughts, be an observer of our world and its history, and tackle formulas and equations that truly frightened me.

I only wish that the power of this search was celebrated, instead of neglected.

Before you graduate, you will have spent 3,060 hours, or 510 days, inside the halls of HHS. The journey to find what makes you come alive needs to be as central to an HHS education as the 56-credit requirement.