Like you, I wanted to read or write longer than allowed, and do any kind of arts: music, dance, or drawing/painting/etc. I would have liked to develop my artistic interests more in school and think I’d be more skilled at them today if I had. There was so much emphasis on academics that eventually, especially when I hit high school, I focused almost exclusively on those. Thank goodness arts education seems to be coming back into vogue, because you really can teach any of the “core” subjects through art, and kids love it. In fact, *humans* love it; art is much more a fundamental need than the powers-that-be realize.

I tutored for the SAT for a while and couldn’t stand teaching kids to write timed essays that followed a formula but didn’t have a lot of depth or authenticity. The students could score well by using certain buzzwords and formatting their writing correctly, but without really thinking about the topic — there wasn’t time to do that. This kind of requirement is turning kids off writing, period, which kills me. I’ve taught creative writing classes where kids saw writing as a chore until they realized that it’s a vehicle for personal expression, and something they could enjoy if they did it freely.

I also remember being continuously frustrated by in-class writing assignments. Being told that my time was up would trigger the worst sinking feeling; I was usually just getting going in terms of my thought process. I learned to cut corners and settle for the first thing that popped into my head rather than delving deeper into my subconscious and choosing my words carefully. And I was rewarded for my laziness.

I do often wonder what I would be like today if I hadn’t been forced to compress my joy so that it would fit into the confines of a school-day schedule; if my teachers had just let me be. Would I be a better, more gutsy writer now? Would I still feel as passionate about reading and storytelling as I did when I was 8?

I feel like traditional schooling stole that away from me.