It Wasn't on a Test
It Wasn't On a Test
Dearest professor,
Ask me about math
And I can recite
Formulas
Solve equations
Even imaginary numbers
Ask me about history
I can say when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue
And other events from 1492
I can tell you the power struggle
Between the rich and the poor
And everything about our government
Right down to the core
Ask me about science
I can discuss different theories
Study the elements
Learn the facts
Find the pH
But ask me how I'm doing
And you'll get a blank look
As I search through my mind
Trying to remember what test that was on
Ask me to describe myself
And I'll stutter
Making stuff up
Trying to share something I know nothing about
Because
I have to learn school
Before I learn about myself
I have to make the grade
Before I make myself calm
I have to remember formulas
Before I can remember that this is the best four years of my life
I know math
I know history
I know science
I know that during "the best four years of my life"
I won't learn anything about myself
Or how to have the best life
But the grade is worth
The bags under my eyes
The grade is worth
The exhaustion
The grade is worth
The fights I have with myself
The grade is worth
Everything
Because I'm worth
What the grade is worth
And anything less than perfect
Is worthless
But a human
Is more than a grade
A human
Is more than school
Right?
We need a change
Because everything has become overwhelming
Hurting the young
Teaching them to hate learning
That's not what it should be
At least that's what I think
But I don't know
Because it wasn't on a test