Fabian, Student, MN

"School should have more meaningful connections between teachers and students to make learning more personalized."

Imagine a child you care about deeply is now in their 30s – out of school and starting into adult life.  What do you hope for him about his life?  What would make it a ‘good’ life?

“I think about my younger brother. I’d like to know that he is happy with what he is doing. I think happiness is different based on the individual. If what makes him happy is having a big family, or living in New York, or going out to Antarctica to dig holes and measure how fast the ice is melting because of global warming - I would consider him as having a good life. I would like to make sure that he’s fulfilled in what he’s doing, that he’s not doing something simply for the sake of supporting himself financially.”

What is the purpose of education?

“Education should be a self discovery process where you learn a little bit about everything - you acquire knowledge and information, you become curious to know more, and you become passionate about certain things.  Once you’re able to make those connections in different areas, you start to narrow down what it is that you’ve enjoyed the most, and what it is that you want to pursue.”

What role do you think schooling or education should play in achieving that ideal good life?

"I think schools should provide more room for a one-to-one connection with teachers - I think that approach will make students enjoy their education more, and maybe give students the opportunity to learn more about what they want to do and explore what their interests are - rather than having it forced upon them.  From there they can make better decisions later in life. School should have more meaningful connections between teachers and students to make learning more personalized.

I think about my experience in college where I’m in classrooms of 10 people.  All of us know each other, the professor knows us, and there’s a lot of freedom in how things are taught.  Classrooms are more engaging, you get to develop more personal connections with your peers and professors, and you can enjoy yourself more - and because it’s more enjoyable it’s more motivating to do the work that you’re doing.  There was a little bit of that for me in high school with the teachers I got to spend more time with and develop those meaningful relationships. I think class sizes should be smaller in order to promote stronger relationships between students and teachers."