Dear Asalah,
I’m a rising senior in high school. School has never been easy for me, but I’ve always liked learning. I have dyslexia pretty bad. I didn’t learn how to read until I was eight, and I had to go to a special school to do it. I stayed there until it was time to go to high school. I left because I wanted to play sports.
After being at my high school for a while, I noticed that there was a big difference between it and the school I came from. At my other school students asked questions about what we were learning because they wanted to know the answer. Now they ask unrelated questions so the teacher is too busy talking to give us work. Before I could ask questions, and the teacher would take time to answer them. Now I ask questions, and the teacher seems irritated by them.
So I’ve stopped asking questions.What’s the point in being curious?
Less Curious in Needham, MA
Dear Curious,
I love how you ask questions, and I’m sorry you feel compelled to ask fewer of them. I’ve noticed that far too often people don’t like questions. The reasons are varied. Sometimes it’s that the status quo is comforting, and people don’t want to question it. Sometimes it’s that they don’t know the answer, and they don’t want to admit that they never thought to ask the question you’ve posed or they don’t want to go through the trouble of finding the answer that you seek. Sometimes people find the unknown frightening, and they’d prefer to be surrounded with easy answers.
Whatever the reason, the fact remains that questions are powerful, and they are needed. More people need to ask more questions. It’s how we learn, and it’s how we hold people accountable. Whether they be teachers or leaders, they should be able to explain the how and the why.
While your current school doesn’t seem to embrace curiosity, your former school did so those environments exist. Hopefully you will find it in the places you go after high school. By continuing to ask questions, you’ll be part of building that culture of learning and exploration. Asking questions and seeking answers is the only way we advance as a human race. Keep asking questions. Be part of the force that pushes us forward.
Stay curious.
