Meet Julia Delmedico

I'm Julia, and I'm 17. My parents are from Argentina, and I've grown up in Manhattan my whole life and go to school in the Bronx.

I think a lot of high schools are trying to get their students into the best colleges. And because the way students are being measured is through numbers that are so harsh, I think public schools are killing creativity. They're quantifying students. Students are only given an incentive to learn for a good grade, but nothing more. I probably just skim the surface just to pass exams a lot of the time.

'Cause what you hear mostly in the hallways are what projects are due, what grades you got, how you're going to fit it all in your day. And, in class, half the students have their head down sleeping because they've been up all night trying to study for their exams. The only support we really get is from our guidance counselors about which college to apply to, what classes to take. "You need an AP science if you want to go to nahdahdah."

But that's not me. I'm very, very much engaged in art history and 'mic/mac', which is micro/macroeconomics. Both the teachers are extremely intelligent, and they like to talk about what they know about the subject. My 'mic/mac' teacher, he sits at his desk, and he gives not only all his opinions, but all the videos he's watched, all the articles he's read, everything that's going on right now that's somehow related, and pulls everything out of the air and brings it all into the topic that we're talking about, which will not be tested on but makes the topic something real.

I never imagined myself to enjoy economics. The best way I learn is in an actual, hands-on experience, something that can bring me out of the classroom. I think the best kind of education is one that teaches you how to speak and think for yourself. That's much more valuable than just passing your exams.