As high school students, we spend almost all of our time learning from adults, trying to achieve a passing grade.  We focus all of our time working for good grades, learning the different subjects in school and following the curriculum set before us.  But the past two years as I watch my brother grow up, I have realized that there are much more important lessons for us to learn from those young, impressionable minds. 

My brother is not hindered by stereotypes or social restraints.  His unbounded, curious mind allows him to explore the world without any inhibitions. He is learning everything for the first time and loving every moment of it. 

Right now, he is learning how to speak.  He listens to everything that we say and tries to repeat all of our words. He loves to learn and develop, while as high school seniors we take learning for granted because it has been forced upon us.  In the second semester of our senior year, I, and many of my colleagues, find ourselves uninterested in learning because “there’s no reason, I’m already into college” or any number of excuses.  But why not continue to learn? 

We are lucky.  We have this opportunity to gain all kinds of knowledge, yet we ignore it.  My brother, on the other hand, takes full advantage of everything he is given.  He asks questions all the time and constantly seeks out new things.  So many people don’t have the opportunity that we do.  So many students are stuck at schools around the country that are understaffed and underfunded while we spend our time at Hoban wasting away the second semester of our senior year. 

It’s easy to senior slide.  It’s fun.  I think I’ve been waiting since freshmen year to finally have a break from the seemingly continuous studying and constant worrying.  But that doesn’t mean that I, or anyone else, should completely waste this time by stopping all learning. 

And who says that we need to study in order to learn?  My brother doesn’t study in order to learn.  He just looks at anything he finds-toys, calculators, phones, whatever sparks his interest at that second- explores them, and figures out what they do, and then he has learned. 

Why don’t we still do that? Why did we stop learning on our own and start relying solely on teachers and other adults to teach us?  We should take a step back and learn from the innocent minds of children. They seem to have the right idea. 

After all, there aren’t depressed two year olds running around.  Sure, they might cry when they want food or a diaper change, but children are happy. They can smile, laugh, color, eat, and be happy, without any of the cares of the world. 

Maybe more of us should live like two year-olds. We should teach ourselves, laugh more often, forget about all the problems of the world for just a little while and enjoy the opportunities we are offered in the second semester of our senior year.