There are many perks to having a blog. For one thing, posting feels like a semi-productive use of time. But mostly, I love that it's another chance to write, and what I write can be made available to the virtual world within a matter of seconds.
In this year's State of the Union address, Barack Obama focused on his plans for education reform, and emphasized the nation's slipping competitiveness in math and science. According to the most recent Nation's Report Card, a Department of Education survey on grade-level proficiency, only 21 percent of twelfth-graders were proficient in science in 2009, and 26 percent were proficient in math. In order to compete in a post-industrial knowledge economy, of course Obama is correct in his assertion that education programs in the maths and sciences need to improve.
At first, Obama's speech made me feel obsolete, as math and science are not where my strengths and interests lie. But after he finished, I realized Obama failed to mention a undeniably important skill that even the most brilliant scientists need in order to coherently share their findings.
Writing.
Only 24 percent of twelfth-graders were found to be proficient in writing; yet, Obama did not mention any plans for improving English programs (or foreign language programs, oddly enough, which are essential in today's global society).
Maybe writing proficiency is not what makes a country "competitive," but would anyone's education be complete without it? Maybe the folks at home wouln't want to hear that a portion of our budget will be used for improving English language programs nationwide ("Our tax dollars are going towards what?").
Yet writing is a form of communication that is essential not only in story-telling, but also in sharing new ideas and discoveries, in analyzing texts or phenomena, in describing the world we inhabit. It is the ultimate form of expression, creativity, and a true catharsis.
Maybe I am obsolete. At least I'll be able to write about it.
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