I'm getting very excited... like a schoolboy the night before a school trip. Tomorrow I fly to London where I will be spending a couple of weeks catching up with friends and family. I'm hoping to get around some of my favorite shops and cafés and will be sure to post the best here for you. I'm also due to make a visit to Oxford to watch some of the Oxford City Royal Regatta (in which some of my friends are competing). I'd better bring the camera to get some snaps from the weekend too.
I hope the rioting and looting has quietened down some, if not, maybe I should prepare a map of the choiciest stores to ensure I loot some nice stuff... :)
In other news, I was asked today if I was one of the preps at my High School... a question that always irks me. Preps attend prep schools - this is the very origin of the term. Thus, everybody at my prep school was a prep and nobody at the High School was a prep, save for the one or two who transferred for whatever reasons (normally disciplinary). What do you think about this? Has preppy culture evolved to the point that people who do not grow up in the textbook preppy environment can now be assumed to be preps?
I also stumbled across a discussion about the values of attending a prep school vs local high schools. Many people seemed to have strong opinions on the matter. A large number of non-preps who had very successful academic records (Ivy plus colleges) and great careers were of the opinion that prep schools had no value. Personally, whilst I agree that one does not have to attend a prep school to succeed, I do think that there is a massive intrinsic value. It's all about the network. The Old Boys Club. Also, statistically, prep school alumni have a higher proportionate representation in the professions, arts, politics and diplomatic services then do non-preps. Surely these are good reasons to go prep school over local schools? I'm keen to hear what your thoughts might be.
I opted to go to a public high school after years of private education. I found the public high school, at the time, to be quite affluent. This has changed in recent years, but it was true when I went through. I've found that where I did not succeed, I was to blame. I do not think further private education would have changed my path.
ReplyDeleteAlthough prep comes from preparatory, I have argued elsewhere that I no longer think this is entirely accurate. Did I have the option of going to a prep school? Yes. However, my parents chose to allow me to decide, and I chose a public high school. I did not get into my university of choice (Naval Academy) but I came very close to doing so. Afterwards, my college career was over several institutions in Texas, including the University of Texas, and I am now doing my MA at smaller state school and earning a 4.0. It has an excellent placement record at the Ivies for the PhD programs, and I may indeed end up at one when I finish. I really have very few regrets, and as messy and non-prestigious as my college career has been, said path has not been one of them.
I've had the opportunity to do a job I love (perhaps being a teacher is frowned upon by some, but I genuinely love it), travel around the world, and further my education without worrying much about the cost. I am highly employable in Japan, and I love living there. I will be able to offer my children, when I have them, choices that were offered to me, regardless of what they choose. I can make the world a better place in doing so. I do not think that prep schools automatically create individuals that make better people, and in fact, prep schools can often be too stressful for some and actually cause issues for some students.
I'm planning to do a heritage post on my family history. I know my genealogies. I know from whom I am descended and how critical these individuals were to the early days of the United States, as colonies and as a young republic. I don't need a prep school affiliation or an ivy league education for either. That being said, Yale has a specific professor I wish to study under, but I am also looking at UCONN and Baylor, which have excellent programs in my area of study.
*shrug*