As long as I can remember, the focus of my education has always been STEM. It's been seen, rightfully so, as the field of the future. However, this inevitably forces other fields that students may be interested in to take a back seat. Especially in the arts, which was a relatively untrustworthy field to begin with, funded was taken away or redirected to STEM programs. It has also put immense pressure on students, especially in the Silicon Valley, to be good at or have professional goals in tech. I personally am terrible at math and science, and thus have felt like I'm not going to be successful if I follow my passions of arts as a career.
And although I understand how risky Hollywood is, I feel like I have significantly less resources to explore that as my career path than someone who is interested in STEM. I believe that this is due partially to the Silicon Valley being the center of modern tech, and thus there are more experiences possible that are related to STEM, particularly in things such as internships or campus visits. But even at Los Altos High, funding is critically low in performing arts and sends a clear message that those subjects are not worth supporting. For example, we can only afford to do a full-scale musical once every two years, while Mountain View high puts on one musical per year and several plays. Broken Box has a really low budget, and we usually can't even afford to buy a backdrop or rights to a well-known play.
All I'm saying is that it's important to realize the hypocrisy between students interested in STEM and students interested in the arts. STEM will always take priority, and this can send messages of how worthwhile someone's hobbies are.
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