Two halves divided diagonally: on one side, a dull, fluorescent-lit public school classroom filled with bored students slumped at their desks, papers scattered, and a disengaged teacher lecturing from a chalkboard covered in equations. On the other side, a bright, energetic trade workshop glows with warm sunlight—students welding, working on car engines, shaping wood, and collaborating with pride. In the center where the two worlds meet stands an older version of the narrator, arms crossed, reflecting thoughtfully between his younger “leftist” self on the classroom side and his present, wiser self on the workshop side. The color palette transitions from cold grays and blues on the left to warm ambers and golds on the right,

There’s only one worthwhile public school in existence

ByTC Marti

Haters will continually think I spit on the public school system and never see its positives. Actually, there is one I like, even if it can be privatized. 

Looking through my yearbook from the 2008-09 school year, I used to see half the graduating class as a bunch of idiots. Idiots taking “the easy way out” in life that were too afraid to take risks.

These idiots weren’t academically gifted. That said, attending the local vocational school where they could learn to become a drone in a trade was their only option. Meanwhile, the smart people like me were going off to college. From there, we’d graduate and hold a better-paying and more prestigious job than the “scumbags” whose only shot to even be remotely successful was to learn a trade.

Yeah, that’s the leftist TC Marti shining through, someone I started “killing off” in September 2011. The system created leftist TC Marti, and he was stupid enough to swallow its words whole.

No, TC, you’re the idiot

Today, I look back at that old trade school and call myself an idiot for not attending it. I’ve further engaged in this act of self-criticism for even graduating college with a degree I don’t even use alongside the $32,000 of debt I accrued.

And I’m not one to rob Peter for debt forgiveness. I signed the papers, so paying off that debt is my responsibility. Something my self-entitled ass never would’ve said back when I looked down at trade jobs as modern-day slavery.

Hell, when you look at these local trade schools, you can also argue they’re not like most public schools, even if they are publicly funded. But they stand out, since you spend roughly half your day engaging in your chosen trade instead of debating whether you’d have a better time banging your head against the wall in a classroom as opposed to listening to a droning teacher.

I’m not saying I’d rather work in a trade job. Far from it, since I have too much fun making a living writing. But imagine taking up carpentry. I mean, look at everything in a home that requires woodwork. Or heating and cooling. Central air is a must to survive in today’s society, so you’re in high demand.

Auto mechanics, welding, electrical trades, I can write a book why taking a path on any of the above would’ve been worthwhile. But no. Instead, I thought sitting in a classroom was the best way forward because the propagandists known as teachers drilled that B.S. into my head when the opposite is true.

The only worthwhile public school out there

The Arcane Prophecy by TC MartiI don’t like public schools and I attended them for 14 years. Long enough to realize they’re a cancer as opposed to the path to success in life. But at least the local trade school either a) helps set students up for a potential career or b) teaches them a specialized skill they will need to use at some point.

And no, before you think I’m about to claim there should be more public schools like this, I’ll say that they could be privatized and operate even better. Heck, if these local trade schools were private, especially when you slash barriers to entry, there would be more of them.

With people seeing value in trades these days instead of rotting away and learning socialism at a university, would it hurt for more schools like them to pop up? Probably not. Especially when teachers double up as tradespeople and could open their own niche trade schools.

That’s the free market in action, and it reminds me of what Yote Diamondback crosses in my young adult fantasy series, Arcane Elemental Academy. Yote attends an institution that houses 32 competing schools, all of which cater to certain learning styles, guaranteeing their students will succeed.

The journey awaits Yote. But before she gets there, she’s training to master her elemental magic alongside her father and sister. Catch those training sessions here and the big reveal of Arcane and what it’s all about in the first three chapters of this kick-ass series.

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