It was a few weeks ago when Ray, our infamous physics teacher, sent out an email asking the seniors to sign up for the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) team competition. At the time of the email, I thought the competition, which pits representatives from area schools against each other through standardized tests in areas such as math, biology, and physics, sounded fun. It is a privilege afforded to seniors only, a chance to get out of a few days of class, and a chance to eat free pizza.
It has dawned on me now, though, that the false sense of exclusivity and accomplishment that a competition affords are just guises for the boredom that I will doubtless endure during that long day, since I only have to take two forty-minute tests. I’ll have to make up the classwork I miss, I’ll need to study for the chemistry exam I’m scheduled to take if I want to perform decently, and pizza isn’t that good anyway. Essentially, taking the WYSE exams confers no benefit whatsoever.
But I am anyway, and I can’t really tell you why. If I do well, I suppose I’ll feel good about it for two and a quarter minutes, until it dawns on me that my scores on the tests have no material effect on my life whatsoever. I suppose I just want to do something different, for the sake of difference, which in this situation, is completely ridiculous. Think about it this way: I want to spice up the monotony of my typical high school day by taking tests in return for meaningless awards and poor-quality lunch fare.
Oh, situational irony. How I adore thee.
Furthermore, I’ve always been conflicted about doing things simply for the sake of doing them. On the one hand, purposeless things are most people’s primary source of entertainment – which, perhaps, is their purpose – but on the other hand, they just seem so trivial. And I’m not trivial; I’m practical and sensible and boring. So boring. I live by boredom; I find it immensely comforting. As types of purposeless entertainment go, though, the WYSE competition will probably be a fairly boring one, so at least I won't be violating my central tenet.
I love "I want to spice up the monotony of my typical high school day by taking tests in return for meaningless awards and poor-quality lunch fare." So sad! But funny.
ReplyDeleteWho knows? Maybe you'll meet a really interesting person at WYSE. Or maybe you'll have an epiphany of some sort. (Or maybe you've already had one about the value or lack thereof of awards-for-their-own-sake, as this post suggests.) I do know one thing: free pizza no longer motivates me. I guess that's one definition of adulthood.
It's better than wasting your life on video games. Unless, say, said video game gets you prizes and moneys, haha.
ReplyDeleteThe blog format is a bit odd - too skinny, makes the paragraphs wrap around rather dizzyingly.
On the bright side, post-hoc analysis renders all of your greatest fears imaginary. 'Twasn't a long day after all (skiving off in the middle always makes life easier), we missed no school (that needed to not be missed), and you even performed /gloriously/ on your feared chemistry exam. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that life-reaffirming? (Of course, one might also point out that none of the "good things" listed happened either--no senior exclusivity, no getting out of class, no second-thought excuses for free lunch, but then... -3+3, assuming equal weight to all aspects, and the net execrableness is roughly 0.) On the bright side, reaching a whole new level of contraband tic-tac-toe is always worth sitting through a few hours of feeling neutral, or even sad. And I wouldn't have given up experiencing the sheep-monkey for anything.
ReplyDeleteI'll have you two fiends know that I have reported said contraband tic-tac-toe activities to the WYSE authorities, who, as we sit here and type, are doubtlessly pouring through all scratch paper for proof of this facetious escapade.
ReplyDeleteOf a more serious matter, finding an inherent purpose in anything that one does is a bit of a problem, and is one thing I’m struggling against, with regards to the future and whole college-shebang. Why, anyway? “Practical purpose”, what’s that? Is it the typical American life, money, job, family, stability with not too much comfort, privilege and material pleasures without being exorbitantly excessive? To find a good reason for any of our actions seems to be a bit of an issue. Or perhaps I’m simply exceptionally bad at justifying any of my actions. Is it… wrong, to engage in activities or to act on things in a way that confers the most happiness on the self? (Provided that said actions don’t harm oneself or others [oh yes, and omitting fringe cases of masochism in oneself or one’s neighbors]) .
But I digress and ramble. It seems that the monotony of the school day was spiced up simply by the fact that one was not there; this alone outweighs the paltry merits of pretentious academic acclaim or shiny, meaningless trophies.