In the World of Thoughts

by Ali McKay

If you have young kids or use Redfin, you’ve probably seen the school ratings from GreatSchools. Our school is rated a “4”. That’s out of 10. When I was in school, forty percent is not a grade that I or my parents would have been happy with. In fact, there would have been a fair amount of freaking out about a 4 out of 10. And yet, my children, and all of the other 330 kids in that school, are learning, having fun, and occasionally misbehaving or letting off steam. They are being kids. The more I think about it, the more I wonder how a building full of people – actual kids, teachers, parents, staff – can be described by one number.

I am very happy with our school, even though it has some pretty significant challenges. It isn’t a “4” to me, or…

My parents tell me I had the most beautiful eyes. When I was three though, something started going wrong with them. Doctors said it was glaucoma and I underwent an operation in my right eye. Soon after, my parents noticed that my right eye had some discharge coming out of it. When they contacted the doctor, he said it was normal but within a few days, my right eye completely disappeared and they rushed me back to the hospital. But I had already lost my right eye. The doctor immediately performed surgery to stop the infection from spreading. If he hadn’t been negligent, maybe we could have saved my right eye. By the time I turned 5, I had undergone six operations. With 20% vision left in my left eye, I was told to be very careful to make sure I did not lose it.

As a child, I went…