Just a few years ago I embarked on a journey to my family’s country Togo. For the first time in my life I would get on a plane and visit a new country. I was impatient for the plane to arrive but I really didn’t want to be in a plane crash. After an hour on the plane I was suddenly itching to land; I wanted to see the world my parents knew and loved. As the plane descended I looked out the window and saw beautiful,tall palm trees and a sea of sand. But once we got off the plane and started driving to my grandmas house, I saw a different side of Togo.
The houses and buildings were kind of small and had worn down stone textures and shops were little shacks with rusting metal roofs. I didn’t think much of it at first but more things kept popping up. Water only came through the faucet at certain times in the day and litter flooded the streets.There was a bulldozer parked on the side to remove the mountain of trash. When it rained the streets became rivers because there were no storm drains. Actually there really weren’t any streets; there was bumpy sand for cars to drive on and for pedestrians to walk on. But at the end of all of that I still love Togo with all of its flaws.

Togo is one of the poorest countries in the world thanks to its president and everybody’s fighting to get him out of office. That's why if I were to take charge and be mayor of my own town poverty would be the most important problem. Going to Togo was an eye opening experience and showed me how huge poverty is. I don’t know what it’s like to deal with drug addiction, or what it’s like to live in the ghetto, or what it’s like to be homeless but I do know that poverty is the main reason for these problems.

If there was more adequate education everyone could get good jobs and nobody would have to do risky things like selling drugs. Nobody can make money without a good education and that's the biggest reason why people are in poverty. I’ve rarely heard of jobs that you need no experience or education for. I mean sure you don’t need to have a diploma to work in retail but the pay is so little for people to go on. Education is essential for everyone so we need to have the best education that fits everybody's needs. There are countries that are way ahead of the US and have better education systems. But that’s not all they have. Their students are actually motivated to learn. To us schools aren’t really helping us learn. We’re just retaining knowledge just to ace that quiz or test and please our parents with As.

I mean I know school is important but it’s boring and most of the stuff we're learning is coming into of one ear and out of the other. Instead of cramming information and forgetting it the next day there should be more fun activities in the curriculum. And no don't mistake my fun activities for your teachers ‘fun activities’ with daily quizzes, tests, and corny hands-on-activities. When I say fun activities I mean contests with special prizes like a small cash prize or getting to do community service. I don’t want to be cooped up in a classroom all day-I want to feel like I’m apart of a community that has a voice despite our age. It's not just about learning math and science- we also need to learn life skills and social skills. Changing the curriculum would not only improve learning but would also reduce the amount of people that drop out. If people have something to look forward to at school there would be no point in leaving.

Its not just the curriculum- its also the environment of the school. School also be such a negative environment and sometimes the people who we rely on most don’t do anything to help. Why is it that we haven’t ended bullying yet? It’s because it’s an issue that most people ignore! I’ve seen kids on the news commit suicide and get beaten up because of bullying. Bullying is an unseen monster that preys when all eyes are turned away. That’s why I think that instead of bullies suspensions they should be expelled. Sometime schools give kids way too many chances even though they know the bad behavior is going to continue. There needs to be one period relax to discuss anything that’s going on for every grade. Now that we don’t have recess or time to talk everyone’s stressed and we don’t have ways to vent our problems.

Fixing schools and education would be my top priority as mayor. Nobody would need to steal to get money, there would be a decrease in violence and robberies, and nobody would be in poverty. Not only would going to school help shape the futures of many lives but it would also help the town. The more people go to school the more jobs there would be in the future. That means more taxes will be paid which will benefit the town. No matter how you look at it money really does make the world go round so we have to work hard learn and make money to shape our future. My parents didn’t come to the US for me to be a slacker- they wanted me to have a future. The only way for me to have a future is to get an education, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.