Alright, so I don’t do coke, and neither should anybody. Please don’t get the wrong idea about me.
But I do feel really great about today’s petition drive. I have no idea how many names we took down. 80? 800? I really have no idea. We gave each person who signed a little slip of paper with spaces for their name, birthdays and e-mails, so now I’m attempting to sort through them and enter them into Microsoft Excel. This is no easy task, and I stopped at 56 because my fingers got tired of typing. I have about a million more to enter, which is very exciting. It means the drive was a success. The ones I have entered so far were for kids who are about 13/14, and they have the BEST e-mail addresses ever. They’re hilarious. I don’t remember what my e-mail was when I was in the eighth grade, but I want to commend 00ZombieHunter00 and Big_Booty_66 for their shamelessness and creativity. God bless you two. I love how this program brings people together.
I was anxious about small details that involved the drive and was equally as nervous that this was going to be a failure. And I knew that anything bad that happened would be my fault due to poor planning or lack of organization. It was very scary. But I do know this: the VAST majority of people who we asked to sign did. And how fantastic is that? I have stacks of paper with Chelseys and Brians and their absurd e-mail addresses printed on them, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
There is no doubt in my mind that one day, Our Education is going to make history. And it’s completely due to the genius and simplicity of the entire concept: setting a national standard for education. How come no one’s ever thought of that before? Politicians (especially in election years) make grand speeches about “our children and grandchildren” and “what the future will be like for them.” And as sincere as some politicians may seem, their children and grandchildren are going to Cornell after attending Exeter or St. Paul’s or Andover. I’m not knocking the Ivy League, but what about everyone else? Where’s their standard? And why has no one ever written it down and signed it into law?
I should stop now. I am becoming like Tracy Flick right after she thinks she loses the class president election: hysterical and slightly preachy. A lot of boys in my government class keep telling me that what I’m doing is pointless and dumb, and I’m ignoring them. People always look down on idealists. This is due to the fact that many people don’t believe that good (or really much of anything) can come from change. And how sad that is. Look throughout history and you’ll find that every great leader had big ideas and carried them out while the cynics ate at Taco Bell and watched Lost. (Granted, I love both Taco Bell and Lost, but I’m sure you understand my point.) Big ideas yield big outcomes. So that’s my motivational speech for the week. You can find me all week in a van down by the river explaining some more of my philosophy. (If you didn’t get that Chris Farley reference then I really don’t know what to say to console you.)
This blog entry obviously would not be complete a highlight of the day. Here is my favorite:
My friend Rachel: [after explaining petition] Want to sign?
Boy, probably around 13: I don’t really believe in public education. I’m going to be a lumberjack when I’m older, so I won’t even be part of this system for very long. But I’ll sign if you show me your boobs.
Rachel: [walks away confused and slightly disgusted]
That’s all folks. Have a great week while I’ll be at my computer writing e-mails, entering names into a spreadsheet and eating ice cream sandwiches!