Homework. Tests. Grades. This is my life in a couple of words. Every day, I study hard to earn excellent grades, I do tons of homework, and I take what seems to be thousands of tests and quizzes. The pressure is on. There is not a second, minute, or day that I go without worrying about what grade I got on a test, how I will study to memorize dozens of equations, or about keeping all of my grades at an A level. I barely sleep all because of school. Should it really have to be like this? My parents, my teachers, and even my straight A friends all expect me to succeed. But with a life like this, how can I succeed when there is so much pressure being put on me?! For this, I have to thank the flawed education system.

Really, who thought it was a great idea to put so much pressure on the future leaders of America? The education system has to change. In order to succeed in life, we have to follow the same routine as every other generation before us has done: Study hard, take tests, Repeat, do better than all the other students, attend the "best" college, land a rewarding career, and be considered successful. It feels like our own lives are being written by someone else; like we are just another product on the factory line. The schools are taking away the students' creativity and adding on stress. Each student has his/her own abilities, but the school system is depriving them of the opportunities to use those abilities by instead making them take ACTs and SATs to show how smart they are compared to other students. Each of us is unique in our own ways, and the school system is trying to fit us all into the same categories. If you're "smart" according to the SAT and the ACT, you get to go to college and land a lucrative career. But if the SAT and the ACT decide you are not "smart", you will end up with a mediocre job. Every student has skills and abilities that make them who they are, and yes, those skills and abilities are very useful, despite what all these standardized tests might label you as. And this isn't all. Class ranking. I'm in the top 30% of my class, but somehow, this feels wrong. Other students are being left out of the club simply because they do not get the grades that the "smart" ones get. These students are also actually smart. They are creative, they are thinkers, singers, writers, and the future leaders of tomorrow. It really shouldn't be like this at all.

Education should be free of stress, free of grades, and permissive of creativity. No more mundane tests, standardized tests, and class ranks. All of this depreciates students' self-worth. I am not saying that there should be no schools or anything like that. I'm saying that school should be a learning place where students are allowed to fit in their unique abilities and skills so that they can succeed in their own unique way instead of following the paths that others have already made. I highly value education, but should it really be this hard to receive one? I rest my case. The education system in the U.S is flawed, and if no one takes action to make it better, the same pattern will continue...  Study hard, take tests, Repeat, do better than all the other students, attend the "best" college, land a rewarding career, and be considered successful. So, go create your own story, don't be another product of our flawed education system. Anyways, I have to end here because I need to go study for my AP Spanish, AP U.S History, and AP Language exams!