High School dropout SHOCK!

            San Antonio ranks seventh in population but 60th in literacy. Every 4 minutes a student drops out of school. I didn’t know this and it really affected me when I realized that I am in college and although I am not from San Antonio, I am seen as one of not that many students who get to go to college. I recently learned that the United States was ranked 25 in Science and 29 in Math among the 30 developed countries. It is very unfortunate to see that we are almost at the very bottom having one of the ‘strongest’ government systems in the world. According to the article City’s future hinges on literacy, San Antonio has the second-highest illiteracy rate among major Texas cities, and the high school dropout rate is worse than any other major U.S. city.

            The Living Museum was an opportunity for me to know more about high school drop outs and what the effects of this are. Our exhibit was on high school drop outs and we tried to portray the causes and effects of dropping out of high school. We decided to show others the short and long term effects of high school drop outs that are and will affect not only the high school dropout but the whole nation. I come from parents who did not even get to go to high school so I know how much they struggled and still struggle to be able to sustain themselves and their homes. I am also Hispanic and unfortunately Hispanics are at the very top when it comes to high school dropouts among with African Americans. As I spent the hours of Wednesday 24^th talking to people about high school dropouts and how we all are affected I started to feel accomplished. Not because I was happy to know the unfortunate facts about high school dropouts but because more and more people were starting to realize how big of an issue this was and how it was actually affecting everyone not only the high school dropout. I cannot stop thanking Professor Burke for allowing us to live this, for introducing us to the real world with all these issues we all hear of at a point but not pay attention to.

            I realized that in order for me to be better and have better opportunities I have to stay in school, do well in school and work, and try to find opportunities that will help me improve my skills and my standard of living. However, I also need to help others and try to do things for others because at the end, it will affect me too. If we all start thinking like that then I am sure our society would be better and we wouldn’t have all this debt, all these people unemployed, people homeless, children suffering, and many more.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/City-s-future-hinges-on-literacy-791138.php#ixzz2SBPxXnEh