The Ed Zed Omega story begins with six teens self-identified as “unlikely” or “ver

The Ed Zed Omega story begins with six teens self-identified as “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to finish high school. Their reasons all had to do with school itself, not with external factors. Ed Zed Omega is the name they invented for a semester-long “independent study” project examining why kids like themselves are deeply unsatisfied with school. At the end of fall semester 2012, they decided whether or not to go back to school. May: “I really don’t see the point… I feel like every second I spend in class, being bored, not caring, is a wasted moment. I want to be an actor. I want to get my real life started… high school is holding me back.” November: “But here’s the thing: I am not giving up! I’ve learned so much about education, and about myself… I think I will be going back with new knowledge, and that makes all the difference.”   August: “I’ve never liked school since I was a little kid, basically – I’ve felt the school system was messed up and wasn’t for me. I would say my last straw was when I was told for me to graduate I would have to repeat my senior year…” December: “This project has showed me all the different ways of education – how we can educate ourselves. People told me, ‘yo, you have online classes, you have tutors…’ You have to find the way you are comfortable with. That’s what the schools should be focusing on, the way kids learn the best. I hope I can be the person that lets the schools know we need a change. If they want to figure out how to fix the system, they have to start from the base, and the base is – the kids.” July: “There’s always a way around school work. Everyone I know at RHS has straight A’s, and it’s not because we study together. We cheat together. If we get good grades then our parents are happy and our teachers are happy. I’m not happy though. What is a high school diploma worth if I didn’t learn anything except how to cheat?” December: “The freedom that I’ve had in the past few months has been the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced. I haven’t had this much freedom EVER. Because I was put into this system when I was six years old. I haven’t been able to do anything except go to school. That’s what my life’s been. “I don’t want a diploma, I don’t need a diploma to make me feel better about myself. I feel great about myself right now. I feel fantastic. I feel like, if I go back to school, I’m losing.”   August: “I feel like if I could just stop going to high school I could spend so much more of my time more productively on my music, instead of learning useless information… I’m partially afraid for my mental and PHYSICAL well being. I get called a fat freak almost daily. I can’t do a duet with a girl without being called a lesbian. I can’t help but go home crying… The teachers don’t do anything. If you can honestly say you’ve never wanted to cry in school then it probably was okay for you.” December: “What have I learned, how am I different? I think I learned a lot about being more strong and more open to new thoughts… I really need to be open to other people’s ideas, not just my own – ‘flexible,’ my mother calls it.” August: “Doesn’t the idea of a 17 year old author who drops out of high school to travel the country sound like a good story? Shouldn’t I at least try to be extraordinary? It’s a shame how defeatist our culture is, where 16 year olds decide to be paralegals for the job security and resign themselves to a life of mediocrity before they even get a chance to taste what an exceptional life might be like. When did our sense of adventure become metamorphosed into a paralyzing fear of risk?” December: “If it weren’t for Ed Zed Omega, I probably would have just p*ssed and moaned about school, and not done anything. Leaving my hometown, leaving school, leaving basically everything, it’s scary, but I like it. – Everything you do costs something. Sometimes nerve. Don’t be frugal with your life.”   June: “When I left high school the first time, I felt – suffocated… I wasn’t a bad student, but I couldn’t get passionate or excited about anything school was teaching me. And when was the last time a teacher ever was concerned with who you are as a person, instead of why you failed a test on 18th century English economics. Why would that test shape any part of who I am supposed to be, or change who I’m supposed to become?” December: “It’s nice to know I’m not alone. The others in this project have opened my eyes to so many problems in the education system that aren’t being addressed, and I’m grateful we went through this together and made a statement together. More than anything, I know I’m not a bad person for wanting a change, for wanting something different for myself and for the future.” August: “How do people know what they want to spend their lives doing? Some of the Ed Zed kids know what they want to do — Nicole likes music, Clare likes theatre, Jeremy likes writing. I like so many different things that I can’t decide. I have to think about college RIGHT NOW so I know what I’m doing next year. I don’t even want to start thinking about college.” November:  JEREMY: How do you feel about the statement: ‘Work experience, relevant experience is valued much more than a degree in that field [fashion design]’? NORA: I think that’s probably true… It’s just so hard to know how to get the work experience without the degree. It’s just so hard to start. I think in a lot of fields people just go to school and get a degree because they think it’s the easy way to get started. Even though it’s not necessary. Or necessarily helps them to be successful. JEREMY: … Why don’t your socks match? December: Nora sums up what the Zed Omegas have decided, and finds herself caught in the conundrum of traditional vs. alternative education.   ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One  ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Three -- source link

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