Dear adults,

Would you ever be able to have a career as a statistician, author, biologist, historian, athletic coach, and instrumental soloist all at the same time?

No, of course not, that’s insane,

To know the ins and outs of the mitochondria of the cell

And how to use the quadratic formula in every problem well,

And how many articles of the federalist papers were written by John Jay,

It’s five by the way.

Would you be expected to play the same note that every instrument could play,

And be able to speak in front of 40 others reciting a debate you memorized,

Worried that one mess up could cause your demise.

While also being able to play tennis, basketball, and ping pong professionally,

Worrying about the affairs of your family

And measuring yourself up to everyone else to get one letter that defines you.

A

I have to get that A to prove to my family

That I can be successful in their reality

That I can measure up to their legacy

And be who they have always wanted me to be

A

To see that sleek diploma

And college admission letter,

Proving that my life can be better

After I graduate

A

So I will not go down in history as a failure,

Just a stupid sailor

Who dropped out of middle school because she wanted to sail the world

A

So I can make a difference in the world

See it shift under my intelligence

And let it commence differently in its ways

Living out different days,

Because of me

B

I feel as if I am reaching toward an unreachable future,

Shifting my destiny ever so slightly from the 1st letter to the second.

That one letter away from greatness

C

I feel that I am losing hope in the things I want to be

Because I cannot memorize trigonometric ratios perfectly,

I will never make a difference because I am descending ever so fast into the abyss of failure

D

I cannot see that future anymore

 Because my life is swirling into an eternal madness

 Full to the brim of expectations and mid-term sadness

F

With finals comes the fall,

The fall into never coming back,

Into never seeing the light

Into never fitting in

Into never measuring up

Into being worthless

Always second best,

Never passed a test,

F

F means failure, no one wants to be a failure,

Yet as I cry alone trying to write about how Romeo and Juliet was an example of literary satire

I tire of the way that despite my A, I feel like a failure

Because school has put me into a box,

With less creativity,

And no time with my family,

I want to have individuality,

But when I have the same things force fed into my brain as everyone else,

How can I be individually me?

I only have one childhood, and I have wasted it on stress and hopeless expectations 

Instead of playing games and listening to radio stations

Since I was six I have spent over eight hours a day

Listening to what other people have to say about

The past

The present

The future

The way that we should think

And how we should live our lives

If we keep listening to your old ideas our generation will turn out just like yours,

And if your generation is so great

Then why is there so much discrimination and hate

Why haven’t we solved world hunger?

And why do we trap kids at the age of six in mountainous expectations and sit them in rows like in factories,

Making them fret about gulping up useless information and then throwing it up on the test.

We are trying our best,

So when you mark us with that F,

We feel as if not just one class,

But our whole life is a failure

And we lose sight of that wonderful,

Magical,

A-filled future