Jackie, High School Student, CA
A good life would probably be to be settled and happy with where I am, and happy with what I'm doing.
Jackie is a High School Student in California. She was interviewed by a fellow student as part of a #schoolpartnership #studentvoice project with REENVISIONED, in which students interview each other and adults in their lives, and reflect together on school and what makes a good life.
So, tell me about yourself!
I would say I'm pretty nice and happy most of the time
How would your friends describe you?
They would probably say I'm a little like crazy and outgoing.
Does your family agree with this?
Probably yeah.
When you think of being a grown up - let's say thirty - what three things would you say would make a good life?
A good life would probably be to be settled and happy with where I am, and happy with what I'm doing.
Do you think your parents’ answer would basically the same?
Yeah. I feel like it would be the same because they want me to be happy and settle down somewhere.
What would you like school to do ideally to help you get this good life?
Probably help me practice what I have to do in the real world and learn how to do everything.
Like what?
Like try how to… I don't know, I don't know how to explain it.
Do you think school will help you create your good life?
I've only been here at this school for a little bit - for two weeks or three weeks, but I feel like it will it. I think it will help me get to see who I am.
Do you think your school will play the same role for all students?
Maybe not for all students because not everyone is as eager to finish and do all of school. But it will for most people, probably.
Why do you think we have school as a society in the first place?
Probably just so we can learn more about what happened in the past and what we need to know to grow up and be adults.
Last question - is there a time when you learned something and it felt good and empowering - it doesn't, have to be in school.
I like learning when Kim teaches us about the importance of praise and encouragement when you’re working with younger kids. It showed a lot about how to react to kids when they have troubles and was kind of cool to learn.
10,000 Stories. One Shared Vision.
REENVISIONED is a national movement to redefine the purpose of school. We believe schools should foster flourishing individuals and a thriving democratic society. But what does it mean to thrive or flourish?
To answer this, we're building the world's largest collection of stories about what it means to live good lives and the role schools should play in helping create them: 10,000 stories from people across the country. We'll use the stories to learn about our shared values and dreams and to create a new vision for why we send our children to school.
We work with people like YOU across the country: Catalysts - individuals, classrooms, schools, and community organizations - who interview people in their communities and foster empathy nationwide by sharing the stories on our website and social media: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (@reenvisioned).