As I move my metal top hat along the Monopoly board, staring at my peg, lifeless, I wonder if it will ever end. The grueling, arduous game often provides an absurdly inaccurate representation of what is perceived to be success and what is perceived to be failure. Furthermore, in order to win the game of Monopoly, you need to have luck in your corner, if you are even able to last long enough to witness the end. Monopoly, invented in 1939, is an age-old game (Doepker 2020). Similarly to Monopoly, school is an age-old institution. The major stressors that school burdens its students with: getting an A, a 4.0 gpa, and a 1600 on the SAT are far from perfect predictors of success or failure. Yet it's all students care about. Though Monopoly may have been the greatest innovation since sliced bread in the 1940s, our knowledge of the human race has developed greatly. But in nearly a century, nothing has changed.
As I begin to count and organize each piece of fake, but somehow so important money, I scan my opponents and analyze my chances to win. Monopoly’s overarching goal is—of course—to win. But what does it truly mean to win? It's common knowledge that the player with the most money at the end of the game will win. Because the end goal is victory, and money is the means through which victory is achieved, money becomes all the more important. Similarly, the currency in our school system is a perfect letter grade; an A. Each time students receive an A, they move one place on our own personal Monopoly boards. Our game of Monopoly does not take into account the fact that players may have anxiety, the fact that they have ADHD; the fact that they are in multiple clubs and sports; the fact that they don't have the right tools to play the game, or the fact that they just might not know how to play. Our drive to reach for these empty letters of grade satisfaction comes from our understanding and belief that the collection of letters associated with our name on a file will be the deciding factor between getting into college or living an unsuccessful life. To no fault of their own, this is what many students believe. It's not hard to understand as our school system enables students to think this way. It seems as though everything we do in school prepares us for the moment when a perfect letter grade is received, the moment when they can win.
As I begin my 50th lap past the go sign, I begin to sense the signs of exhaustion as my eyes slowly become slits shrinking in size. Monopoly is a lengthy game. Oftentimes, it seems as if the end is too far in sight to even keep playing, so we pack it up. Though my chronic exhaustion every time I play Monopoly is likely not related to mental health, school is another story. While Monopoly is a long game, school is even longer. In second grade, I was ecstatic to learn and be creative; by sixth grade it was getting a little old, and by sophomore year I had lost interest in playing the game. I developed many strategies along the way: how to collect the most As, how to study to get an A; how to take notes to get an A. It's not that I forgot how to play. I just didn't want to anymore. School takes the creativity out of the student. There were many times throughout my high school career in which I wished my learning could be more customizable. Even if I didn't experience severe hindrances to my education, my peers surely did. Unfortunately, quick water breaks and bathroom breaks are almost discouraged in school, and even if they were encouraged, many students feel anxious at the sheer amount of material they might be missing—even for a five minute break. The school system creates this intense atmosphere. The atmosphere that makes kids afraid to raise their hand in class for fear of being wrong. The fear that if they are wrong, the teacher now thinks less of them and they just moved two places backwards on the Monopoly board.
Finally, as I begin to see the finish line and a winner in sight, I realize that the game really doesn't end. This competition for the biggest bank account and the most As doesn't stop in high school, not even in college. This game of skill and luck continues for the rest of our lives, but it's what you make of the game that defines your success. Sure, bubbling in a scantron sheet is a skill in itself, but there is also a degree of luck involved. In the game of Monopoly, both luck and skill could get you far.
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