One Man Can Change the World

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This week in class we read the speech Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. In the speech Thoreau says "I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,-if ten honest men only,-ay, if one honest man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therfor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. In this quote, Thoreau says that if one man stood up for what is right, in this case the abolition of slavery, then change will happen. One man can make a difference not by supporting someone who has a similar idea, but putting their entire effort into making the change. This made me really think about how I can make a difference in the world. One problem that me and Marz identified was the College Board making a profit off of education. The College Board owns the SAT and AP tests and make money through students taking their tests. These tests are unfair to students from lower income families because they cannot afford the test prep that others can. Some schools don't even offer AP classes so students at those schools can't take the tests. By not being able to afford the prep that wealthier students have access to, students from lower income families usually aren't able to do as well on the tests. This shows that the SAT measures wealth, not hard work or smarts. I thought about how I could change the system and I realized I could protest by not taking the SAT or AP tests. If everyone didn't take the tests change would happen. However, if I didn't take the test I would lower my chances of getting into the college of my choice. Everyone has the ability to change the world, but few people have the courage to act on it.

Comments

  1. Alex XuSeptember 22, 2019 at 7:26 AM

    I agree how it's so wrong for Collegeboard to commercialize education - and they even claim to be nonprofit what the heck???? Over the course of high school for an average person in 11 AP, those $100 AP tests, $63 SATs, and $48 SAT subject tests probably add up to over $1500. Fifteen. Hundred. And there's nothing much we can do about it - how you put it, "few people have the courage to act on it", is spot on. So what if one person chooses to boycott SAT or AP? MIT or Harvard or even just U of M or whatever don't care, they have tens of thousands of applicants they can choose from! If a boycott is to get anywhere, everyone has to be on board. And that's beyond difficult. In addition, Collegeboard charges such high prices because they basically have a monopoly and the demand curve for SAT/AP tests is very inelastic - real world applications of econ :(((

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  2. Vivienne Francois' BlogSeptember 22, 2019 at 12:48 PM

    This spoke to me as a fellow hater of the college board. I always thought their system was rigged but you really pointed the problems out to me. I can relate to you because although I am not content with the college board, I wont take action because I care too much about getting into my college of choice.

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  3. Ethan LangSeptember 22, 2019 at 1:00 PM

    I completely agree with how unfair college board is. Having to pay for a test is completely absurd and unnecessary. However if us students voice our frustrations like Throeau did we could be able to change this and either reduce or eliminate the pricing of tests as a whole.

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  4. Elliot LiuSeptember 22, 2019 at 1:34 PM

    I think that the inequity of education is absolutely appalling, and I definitely believe that standardized testing should not exist and colleges should have more holistic admissions. However, it is undeniable that we reap massive benefits from the current system due to the fact that we are upper middle class. Why develop as a person when my parents can send me to SAT prep and I can "prove" that I can achieve a high GPA in college?

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