They educate me and get me ready for my life out there,
but will I ever be?
I live in a world protected by school walls,
shielding me from what's outside of them.

Does anyone in high school know how to pay taxes?
Does anyone in high school even pay for their own gasoline?
What about managing a check book,
or buying a house?

Learning calculus is great,
but will I ever use it in the medical field?
I want to learn about jobs I could have in the future,
but instead I bust my brain learning things I will never use.

Forget about seeing the world,
most of us come home to hours of homework after hours of sitting in school.
I dream of visiting other countries,
but I am lucky to cross a few state borders here and there.

I want to learn from people and places around me,
not in the same classroom for more than a decade of my life.
What happens when I can no longer rely on my teachers for the answers?
I’ll be pushed off the deep end and expected to swim.

I’m 17 years old.
It makes me sad to say most of my childhood was spent inside a building.
In elementary school we would come home and play outside until the sun disappeared,
but now we sit inside and do math problems until the sun gives up on us.

I don’t feel old enough to vote next year.
Heck, I wouldn’t even know who to vote for.
I still sleep with an old stuffed animal for crying out loud.
Will I ever be an adult?

I have dreams,
yet I don’t know how to fulfill them.
Only time will tell if I can handle the real world,
but I don’t feel ready.