Imagine every morning stepping into the same school, with the same hallways, the same classrooms, with the same teachers, same students, same schedules and same lessons. It feels like being stuck in a loop where nothing ever changes. You know exactly what to expect every single day, and after a while, it not only starts to drain you but also your creativity. 

High school isn’t just tiring, it’s limiting. Students are told structure is important, and while this might be true, it takes away the opportunity to think outside of the box. 

Assignments are graded based on how well students follow instructions, not how thoughtful their work is, and tests reward memorization rather than innovation. 

These routines don’t just shape students’ time in school but also their futures. By keeping students locked in this pattern, it teaches students to accept that this is what life is supposed to be like. 

Senior Aya Aani said, “School makes me feel like I have to follow exactly what they say for me to succeed.” 

Wake up, follow a schedule, do work, repeat. 

This is the same mentality that leads to students thinking that a 9-5 job with no passion or creativity is the only path. 

Some might argue that routines are necessary to teach discipline, but discipline shouldn’t be achieved at the cost of one’s creativity. 

Students can learn responsibility and still have the freedom to explore. The problem is that schools don’t allow students to have this balance, they focus too much on discipline and forget the purpose of education. 

Instead, schools should encourage creativity by giving students more freedom to choose how they learn and demonstrate their understanding. More open-ended projects and independent learning allow students to put their creativity into further learning topics and understanding concepts their way.