What I'm up to right now

I just finished a day of teaching biology to middle school students. I am now using iTunes to watch a very old James Watson tell the story of how he figured out genetics using tinker toys. This is the hardest time of year to be a substitute. For two weeks I am teaching at a harmless Christian private school where you can get kids to stay in their seats if you threaten to tell their parents. But even though it's the end of May, and most of these kids are probably writing these two weeks off and resenting any learning that slips past their guard, I still want them to care. Even though I don't take it personally because they're not my kids, and they have already decided that school=slave labor, I wish they would feel differently about my class. More appropriately I wish they would feel differently about all of their classes.
I am in the Science Lab, and school has been dismissed. Echoing down the hall is the triumphant sound of the choir practicing its songs for Jesus. A moment ago it was a piano tune with a solo vocalist singing a dramatic praise and now it's a pop punk message of telling the world some sort of good news because 'some people haven't heard.' This is the school I attended, and I remember the feeling very well. As a student, the only redeeming factor of the whole experience is that there's other chumps in the mess with you. Misery loves company. And ironically, in this case, it does not love Jesus, because Jesus is the ultimate symbol of arbitrary authority. Not a symbol of compassion, but a contradictory trap that makes life for these poor schmucks quite hopeless. But this is a religious place, and they Expect you to Love Jesus. They Expect you to spread the good news. But a vast majority of these kids don't see the news as good, so they take on the mindset of 'just survive. Avoid detention until you're old enough to make your own decisions.' In addition to just being a stupid kid and doing stupid kid things with other stupid kids, my main activity at this middle school was silently repeating the mantra 'wait till I'm older.'
Interestingly, there was always an asterisks accompanying this thought, and that was this: 'if there is such a thing...' In other words, if there is a world by the time I am old enough to do things differently, and if the rules are still the same, and if I am not dead... (probably a result of the indoctrination of the 'end of the world' concept as shown through the book of Revelation; an interesting point, as I am asked daily if I think Revelation is going on right now, or if I know how the world will end...)
Well, here I am. Not only did I make it to the eighth grade, through High School and even through College, The Rules Are The Same And I Am In Charge. So I think that's something worth thinking about... The very first thing I ever wanted to change about the world was how terrible and contradictory school is, and here I am, in a position to change it and I am mostly just trying to survive. Interesting. I guess that's why we have faith. Approximate bearings led me here and I must have faith in those approximate bearings to lead this experiment to success.