Dave Eggers' Wish: Once Upon a School

Dave Eggers’ speaking style is somewhat clouded by his nervousness. His nervousness does, however, show how he is just like everyone else. His movements onstage were subtle and easy to overlook as simply part of the talk. His passion became evident as his nervousness begins to fade, and the purpose and vision behind his talk is evident. The only thing that I found very distracting was how many times he said “uh” or stalled between his words and then got very stressed about the amount of time he had left.

I think it is interesting how a simple change of environment so strongly affects the motivation of these children. Just coming up with a space that everyone goes to, regardless of ability, to get help entirely changed the way that students felt about getting extra help. If you are constantly told that you are not good enough, eventually you lose motivation to try because it seems like you will never accomplish anything. By allowing a genuine accomplishment to come more immediately, it removes the assumption that school is only to prepare you for life, and therefore encourages students to put in much more effort than they normally would.

The fact that something so little could change the course of someone’s life forever is amazing. It makes me think about how much unused energy is wasted, and how much potential s wasted because people are told that they will never be able to do something. It makes me wonder just how much could be gained if everyone took the time to listen. But, then again, maybe having someone to listen to them is just different and that is why it helps. It is very strange to think about just how large a difference a small effort can make, and that effect cannot be predetermined or controlled.

I think that Eggers highlights a very important deficit in schools today - that kids come into school wanting to learn and lose that joy and that passion over the years. If school was truly based on learning, then everyone would be judged based on how much they improved, essentially how much they learned working on any given assignment. In his project, Eggers clearly shows just how important a connection with doing anything to help kids to love learning is likely to be received with joyful passion. It makes me wonder just how much people would learn if they were judged based on how much better you did than last time. In this way, you would be able to learn and focus on the passion and the purpose in your work, instead of being forced to complete it, even if you don't want to and making little or no effort.

If we all made an effort everyday to learn from everything we do, and to teach others what we have learned, then the changes to the community would impact the whole world for the better.