An Unconventional Post

Hi. Its me. I just wanted to say this.

I hate goodbyes. Especially at night. I was listening to Pandora. And  a live song came on. At the end, the artist (Jeff Buckley) said goodnight and goodbye.

A flood of feelings and memories came. Darkness. Lonliness. Pain. Fear. Anxiety. Hope. Airports. Knowing you are saying goodbye to someone and not knowing when you will say hello again. (I even made a deal with my BFF that we wouldn't say goodbye. Instead.. we say Tacos. Yup. You're jealous. ;))

Im not sure if I'm crazy. I might be. But... Goodbyes aren't fun.

As a child I was obsessed with the Titanic. I knew all about it. And what fascinated me was that those passengers said goodbye and never lived to see the sunrise. They floated through the ice filled ocean and left this earth one by one.

On almost every flight I take or move I make, I think about how maybe it could be the end. Maybe I wont live to see the morning. Or maybe i'll never see my friends again. I always have. And for that I am thankful. But those feelings: Darkness. Lonliness. Pain. Fear. Anxiety. Those are all things I have felt and do feel.

So thats my unconventional post. Its about goodbye.

P.S. I just reread that. It sounds really weird. Oh well. Im posting it anyway. Cause its my muse.

No Longer His

 No Longer His

Inspired by Kite Runner

He screams in pain that isn’t his own. Blood soaks through his arms but it is not his own. She lies, forever dead, at his feet. She is no longer his.

A wrinkled man walks along a desert land. His lips are cracked and dripping with blood.  As he walks, the hot sun beats down on the rag that covers his head. He stumbles and falls to the ground. His face smashes against a desert colored rock and crimson sprays from his beaten face. He stammers as he tries to catch his breath. A single tear falls from the corner of his eye and drips to the ground. The old man raises his leathery hand to his nose and wipes the red liquid from it. As he does so, his eye catches a glint in the sand. He cautiously lowers his bloodied face to the ground and examines a small sphere. It has a creamy texture to it. The man, wise in his years, was well aware that is out of place object was a pearl. He clenches the pearl in his hand and returns to his travels.

She cries out. Silence fills the air.

He walks for days. If someone were to observe him, they would think he was directed aimlessly. But this man knew where he was headed. To the mountains. He continued his trek in a northerly direction. Again he drops to the ground. This time, he is unable to get up. Death is at his doorstep. He knows it is only a matter of time before he leaves this terrible but wonderful world.

He begins to contemplate his life, how he got here.

It started with the pearls. He and his wife had been married for 40 years. And then the pearls came. All tears he wept turned to round small pearls. He saw this as a gift from Allah. Through his pain, both emotional and physical, came monetary stability.

He holds her in his arms and presses the knife into her soft wrinkled skin.

Their whole marriage they had needed money. When the pearls first came was the day he lost his job. He returned home to tell his wife that soon they wouldn’t have any more money. They cried together. And pearls fell to their feet.

It was a blessing at first but now it is a curse.

The pearls were their salvation.  Pain was now their happiness. And how much pain they felt. But slowly… It became harder and harder to cry. The more pain this man endured the less he was able to make the tears fall.

His wife was seeing how obsessed her husband had become. She repeatedly reminded him that they did not need the pearls. Come what may, Allah would provide. “but my wife, this is how Allah provides these pearls are from him.”

In time, he became so desperate that he stabbed himself. Gore gushed from his leg and pain seared up his spine. He fell and cried from the pain. Yet a single pearl fell to the ground. He screamed furiously. Standing up, he dropped the knife, tip down and watched it sink into the soft, wrinkled ground.

He left the measly pearl lying in the dirt and stormed to his house. He dragged his beloved wife from the kitchen, terror frozen on her face. It was a blessing at first, but now it is a curse. He holds he in his arms and presses the knife into her soft wrinkled skin. She cries out. Silence fills the air. He screams in pain that isn’t his own. Blood soaks through his arms, but it is not his own. She lies, forever dead, at his feet. She is no longer his.

The tears never came. He left her forever and headed to the mountains. 

A wrinkled man walks along a desert land. His lips are cracked and dripping with blood.  As he walks, the hot sun beats down on the rag that covers his head. He stumbles and falls to the ground. His face smashes against a desert colored rock and crimson sprays from his beaten face. He stammers as he tries to catch his breath. A single tear falls from the corner of his eye and drips to the ground. The old man raises his leathery hand to his nose and wipes the red liquid from it. As he does so, his eye catches a glint in the sand. He cautiously lowers his bloodied face to the ground and examines a small sphere. It has a creamy looking texture to it. The man, wise in his years, was well aware that is out of place object was a pearl. He clenches the pearl in his hand and returns to his travels.

Monticello Posts

So. There is a school I want to tell you about. :) The school is called Monticello College. It was founded by an amazing man named  Dr. Shanon Brooks. He is starting Monticello in southern Utah. It is centered around the principles of classics, mentors and service. Dr. Brooks' mission is to educate and build students who become leaders and statesmen.

I attended a great webinar hosted by Dr. Brooks and the college and found out that they give applicants an intense 30 minute oral exam prior to acceptance at Monticello. I emailed the school and asked for a general list of questions they might ask in this exam. I received a reply from Dr. Brooks containing 200 questions. The topics range from History to Politics to Art and Science.

I know a few of the questions, or have at least studied them. But I have a feeling I'd pretty much fail their oral exam. So I'm gonna fix that by studying these questions.

Which is what this whole post is about. :P (It took me 150 words to get to it.)

Every week I will post a question. And I'll answer it.

Now. These Monticello Posts will be in conjunction with all my other posts. But I decided this was a good way to keep me active on this blog while gaining some great knowledge and sharing it with you. :)

Prepare to see some awesome posts. :)

A School Assignment

So. This essay is a lot like my "Educational Pandemic" post. Yes. Its different. But it covers the same concept. I actually wrote it in 15 minutes about 20 minutes before class. So the end is very scrambled and I didn't flesh it out as much as I wanted to. Its not a perfect essay, and by no means does it follow any specific format. These are just more of my thoughts stained into the Internets Ink. 

Here it is:

The future of China, India, and America. 

Why America could be stomped by China and India in the near future. 

In the 1950’s, America had reached its golden age. Other countries were insignificant and small compared to our giant, free country. But now, in 2012, it is predicted that soon, the United States World Ranking will have descended below countries like China and India. Even when both countries were and still are seen as third worlds. How is this possible?

Education.

It is said by many that Hitler planned to continue his domination of Germany for years after his death by educating the children. He knew that children are impressionable and whatever you teach them will shape who they become and what they do as adults. To change a country, you go to the schools.

Fast-forward to 2010 and The President of the United States, Barak Obama says that our country's education system need to be MORE like our “counterpart” countries such as China, and India.

Education is the key to any country's success. The problem we face today is that education is merely job training.

We find ourself in a situation that is rather similar to one we found ourselves in a hundred years ago. We were advancing into a new age. One of industrialism. With that change cam educational reform. It was modeled after Industrial Germany's Education System. 

America and Germany were two of the best countries in the world until Germany fell in the 1930's.  China India and America will be the best in the near future until, perhaps, America falls.

To predict how that could happen, we must look at why Germany fell.

Contrary to popular belief, the Great Depression was not only occurring in the U.S. It was felt all over the world. Especially in Germany. Since the late 1800’s, Germany had been an Industrial Society. Schools began to train workers to meet the demands of the changing society. They were very good at this. (Thus the reason the U.S. modeled its education systems after theirs.)

Then the Economy crashed. Workers didn’t have any work. The country began to crumble. Soon, Adolf Hitler came to power. Hitler was going to save his beloved country. He became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. Better known as the Nazi Party.

Hitler and his Socialist Workers Party took advantage of the uneducated, trained Germans and just like that, the dominos started falling. As we know, it ended in the death of millions and ruination of a great country.

Almost on hundred years later, America and her people are falling. We are no longer educated, but instead, trained. Although I do not believe that the United States will succumb to a darkness such as the Nazi Party, we will face hard times and it will take reeducation of the people to rise again. 

China and India have some of the most educated youth in the world. They see education as a purpose in life. They desire great Liberal Arts education. Many education opportunities they seek are here in the U.S.  After that, they also find great jobs here, that are not filled by our own students because we dont have a level of education high enough to fill those jobs.

We are a teetering country. Riddled with debt and insecurity. We face economic hardship. Americans are not passionate about education. Indians and Chinese are. They are rising up and becoming world powers because of their educational systems.

I believe in America. I believe that we can rise up and fix the problems we face. But it will take something besides Job Training. It will take real education. 

A Few Good Men

Recently, I was worrying about the future. What it will hold for me? How will my life, along with millions of others, be affected by the quickly changing world? I started to discuss this topic and express my worries. I said something like "My generation isn't ready to take charge of this country, this world. I'm losing hope. I'm scared." 

I am surrounded by teenagers that, quite frankly, worry me.

But amid my worries I was consoled by the fact that it only takes a few good men to stand up and lead.

And I realized... I am also surrounded by many of those "good men" (and women!) I attend an online high school. This school is filled with students who are passionate about learning.  We discuss things such as the  Iranian nuclear crisis, the constitution and how FDR really wasn't the best President this country has had. My classmates are the best youth in the country.

They give me renewed hope for the future. Because it will be my classmates that stand up for liberty. It will be my classmates that stand up for families. It will be my classmates that lead the world in the coming years.

All it takes is a few good men. And thankfully... I know some of them. :)

Generation Y

Some call you the Lost Generation. 

Some say that you are reckless, directionless, careless, and ignorant.

Some say that if you will fail as adults and our country will crumble under your leadership. 

Others call you the Hero Generation.

Others believe that you are strong, smart, natural leaders and that under your direction, America will rise once again as a declaration of freedom and liberty. 

They believe in you. 

Generation Y. Born Between 1980 and the Mid 1990's. 

You will have to prove some wrong and make others proud. 

Sacrifices will be made. But you will find yourself among the ranks of the Founding Generation, the Civil War Generation, and those young men and women of the 1940's who gave everything to once again proclaim that America is the the greatest country to have graced this earth. 

So here is a message for us all: Let us not stoop to mediocrity. Let us be the Hero Generation. Let us prove those wrong who call us reckless, directionless, careless, and ignorant.

Clearly.

Clearly, he is different. He stands out from the crowd. Some see him as an outcast, but I see him as a leader. He tells his stories. His stories… He tells me of the far away places. He says they are so bright, unlike my country. My country is dark. My country is failing.

Clearly, he is different. He has his enemies. He has his friends. He has no family. His are dead. Like mine. Murdered in the wars. I am so lonely sometimes. But I have him. My friend. We talk about how we will be the big boys someday. I will change the world. I will help those like us.

Clearly, he is different. He has teased death and shown me life. He hears things. He hears our parents. We are like brothers. He sat me down today. Told me of the things he heard. Our parents. Telling us to be a light in the darkness. I am the light. I can be a savior.

Clearly, he is different. He is almost finished here. He is as my father. He told me he will leave. Like my own father left me. I know what has happened. He must leave this place. He heard the voice. It was not our parents. It was the God. Calling him upwards. I must be like him. I am him.

I am different. I am different because of him. My country is dark. My country is failing. I will change the world. I will help those like us. I am the light. I can be a savior. I must be like him. I am him.

An Educational Pandemic

Prior to Hitlers rise, Germany was the most highly trained society on earth. They had the best trained doctors, lawyers, workmen etc. But highly trained societies cannot protect themselves from losing their liberty. Germany had no strong leaders who had a deep education in liberal arts. Few of their leaders became selfless in the service of their country. Because Germans were only trained and didn't have liberal educations, They fell to the Nazis.

Germany lost its liberty.

Americas educational system can be traced back to John Dewey in the early 1900's. It was modeled after industrial Germany's education system.

This model took a cookie cutter approach to education. It allowed most any student to attend school and to be trained for jobs. The purpose of education no longer remained to prepare clergy (as Harvard and Yale were established to do) nor to give great liberal arts education.  Education became job training.

This educational model was a very industrial approach. I like to call it a conveyer belt or mass production education. This model could have been thrown out after WWII with the success of America in the war. It wasn't. There was another opportunity to get rid of the model, in the 1960's during the science boom and space race. We still didn't change. With the end of the Cold War in the late 1980's, we should have changed, but we didn't. 

 In recent years, it has become painfully clear to every American that our public educational system is broken. 

America has found itself in an educational pandemic.

Nearly ALL American students are failing critical subjects. Our President has called for educational reform. Reform will occur. But what we will never see with reform is American students succeeding in school and competing with other countries.

Why?

Simply put, it is because American students are not passionate about education.

America is a highly trained society. But training and education are not the same thing. Any American will tell you that education is the most important thing for them to have, in order to succeed in life. They confuse education and training.

Our Founding Fathers were educated. They were able to build America because they had worked to attain a deep liberal arts education. There character was moral. Their integrity; strong. They also practiced something called public virtue. They served because it was the right thing to do. They put aside their personal desires for the good of society.

The Founders were leaders. And they were leaders because of their education.

So now we find America in a broken state. We do not have strong, selfless leaders. We do not have educations. We are losing our grip as a world superpower because of this.

What worked for the Industrial Americans has not worked in 70 years. What Americans have yet to realize is that education can no longer be fixed. We have an educational pandemic. Our superpower country has crumbled because of the erosion of our educational system.

What can we do?

Take the public school system for what it is. A pandemic. One of the only solutions is to build a new system. An American system. One that will inspire our students to be passionate about learning. One that will hopefully build leaders who will learn from the founding fathers and practice public virtue.

Education is not job training. We cannot afford to treat it as such. If we do, we will continue to fall and America will find itself where Germany found itself 74 years ago.

Without Liberty.

My Muse

Hello,

My name is Jacob. I'm not sure who will read this. Maybe it will remain in the vast vault of endless Blogger Blogs. Or maybe, Ill become the President of the United States, and someone will dig up my youthful blog and lay claims about my being an extremist. :D

But whatever the case may be, welcome. :)

To give you some background about who I am, Ill start by explaining this blog.

Liberty. Education. My Generation. All are extremely important to me.

I feel that my purpose on this earth revolves around those things. No. My purpose is not limited to those three things. But it is in those things that I find purpose.

Our world is in a very opportune place. Soon, I  believe, the world will face a major crisis. We have already started that crisis. Soon we will feel that crisis in full force. Something will snap. And it is up to my generation to pick up the broken pieces and start anew.

That is why I have chosen these three words. My Generation needs an Education that will afford them Liberty.  

This blog will (hopefully) be filled with my thoughts. You may not agree with my thoughts. Some you might see as blasphemous. Yet others, you may agree with. :) But these are my thoughts and I believe they are worth sharing.

So here is my muse. Enjoy.