~ nicklebee ~

Sometimes I feel like a real moron, you know. In both of my classes, several of my class mates have been working in government for years, and they are always able to discuss the intricacies of bureaucratic processes that I don't have a solid grasp of, citing specific Idaho codes and spontaneously identifying the head of every single agency and department. Despite having read the course textbook, these are things that I haven't been able to pick up on, and my participation in the class discussions is substantially less substantive. Additionally, there seems to be a basic vocabulary that I lack. For example, the other day one of my class mates was monopolizing a large chunk of classtime about some policy she was calling "nicklebee" and I had no idea what she was talking about. She was going on and on, "nicklebee" this "nicklebee" that, and I was feeling increasingly distant from the conversation. Finally, I realized that she was merely sounding out the acronym for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as "nicklebee". And I felt retarded, as though I'm not a member of this group of people who are so familiar with our eductional policy that they discuss it using weird code words that are not obvious to people who don't live in a world of acronyms. Seriously, "nicklebee", how was I supposed to get that?

In other news, yeesh! I'm so sorry! I am flabbergasted with the concept of "free speech" because not all speech is heard equally. Speaking of No Child Left Behind, I almost wish that there were a law restricting people's speech, especially because I fear that our educational system is going to produce even more inarticulate and malinformed citizens. Last night over sushi, Josh and I discussed the possibility of expatriating. My fear of No Child Left Behind is greater than my fear of war, famine, disease, and terrorism combined. Ignorance terrifies me.

Posted by jennifer at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)