On the occasion of our Career Assignment Day

June 9, 2030

To our younger self:

Ten years ago, today, our academic career started online. Our entire educational history has been documented and analyzed and cataloged by the Department of Education to assign us to the correct career path. Tomorrow, we will face the Ayn Rand Career Assignment Panel to determine if we will be going on to college or not.

We are a little nervous, but it is still so much fairer than the old system they told us about. We don’t remember all the details, we were pretty young at the time, but it had to do with a couple of actresses, testing scams, and bribes. One guy had his dad pledge a building to Harvard so that they would admit him. This system seems fairer and much less likely to end in a dystopian hellscape young adult trilogy.

Do we have a good chance at college?

Our aptitude scores since first grade have been high, and our attention span has shortened to the appropriate length. We don’t talk back or ask questions. We passively consume information. We have become watchers, not doers. We had only read five books in my entire school career before they were burned. My physical education coursework has been impeccable; we have kept up with our physical, virtual trainer since PE teachers were encoded into our virtual trainer wall panels. The algorithm, which is never wrong, says we are the right candidate but not a great candidate. Our expectations are not “Great,” but they are Good.

We could have high hopes for a career if we move on to college for a job in new creature creation as my bio grades were high. Maybe even something in the Cripr cafe. I would find gene-editing of animals to be an advantageous post. Keep my fingers crossed for that one.

Parenthood is still a possibility; we know it is a longshot since our mother would have wanted grandchildren. If she had not been deemed “suboptimal” and removed for speaking too often at a PTA meeting, she would have desired grandkids. FWIW, I don’t think she should have done her version of Harper Valley PTA at the annual planning meeting, but Mom would never be quiet in the face of a Karen, let alone 10.

We were worried when the College Board announced that the college application process would start in first grade, with attendance tracking software, facial recognition for test verification, aptitude, and skills checking and physical fitness monitoring through our skin implants. Still, now we have overtly supported it or risk jeopardizing my enthusiasm score, which has remained suspiciously high.

We know how hard it was for us to adapt to online education — having to sit still for 6 hours a day, with no breaks, with the ever-present camera on, watching me, evaluating me, and assessing my future life path. It was enough to lead you to start questioning the system, but it was still early days, and we had no idea of the pain and harm caused by watching a child on camera for so many hours a day. No, of course, we have gotten used to the intrusion, but it didn’t come easy.

When it became clear that there was no way to enforce discipline in online learning, they brought in emotional monitoring AI used to detect terrorists, to monitor our emotional well being and report back on any fluctuations in our well-being index. It was controversial, but there was no way for us to understand the emotional toll on students.

The real change will come when they start using facial recognition to “verify” your test-taking identity to make sure you don’t cheat. But the real reason will be to monitor us, track us, document us, and ultimately make us compliant to the will of the state for the glory of the nation. They look for any signs of Divergence. It is a Brave New World, so stand and sing the Anthem, or we might have to volunteer as tribute.

Everything has to lead us to this point, and now, we find myself overrun with undesirable emotions. Fortunately, I have the chill-pills assigned to us, starting in second grade by the NurseBot to cope with the movements and fidgeting that throw off the camera’s AI ed-valu-ator program, developed by the DeVos corporation. We didn’t want to take them initially, but it made it easier to cope with the long hours required to secure an excellent future career path.

Ours Truly,

High School Senior 456-H

PS: The selection committee made us a Street Sweeper!

PPS: Study less because the system was rigged

PPPS: Now is a great time to go to a protest