I Have Loved You Wrong by The Swell Season
Meet me in our secret place
when the time has come...
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
What They Never Told You: Sports
There are so many things that those older than us do not say when we are children. One of those, something I plan on emphasizing greatly to my children (if I have children), is this:
The overemphasis of sports in middle and high schools is a joke. It's made to be the most important thing, leaving everything else behind to suffer. I went to a very small private school, which still offered numerous sports...resulting in most people in each grade playing at least 2 of the 3 sport seasons per school year. It wasn't suggested; it was expected. The ones who had played before and wanted a break were pressured to come back. The people--like me--who very determinedly said again and again that they weren't playing, were approached with guilt trips "but we need more people to have a full team."
The result, of course, was that the arts and academics both took a back burner for almost everyone in the school. This isn't about the arts, although that is an extremely long post waiting for another day--I'm an avid supporter of expanding opportunities for interested children to pursue the arts in school. This is about academics.
What they forgot to tell everyone in middle and high school, is that sports do not matter. Yes, they're fun to watch, or they're good exercise, or they teach team work, or whatever excuse you're using to push them that day... but of all the children that focus exclusively on sports to the decline of their academic studies, very few of them ever actually find a way to support themselves in any way with their game of choice.
On the other hand, focusing on becoming well-rounded academically (without necessarily being a nerd), is going to benefit you much more later in life. I've never met someone who spent time on bettering their mind and said that it was a waste. I've heard that plenty from people who focused on sports throughout their school years, only to have some part of their body give out in college.
So yes, focus on whatever interests you--pursue it. But at the end of the day, having cultivated intelligence is never going to let you down.
The overemphasis of sports in middle and high schools is a joke. It's made to be the most important thing, leaving everything else behind to suffer. I went to a very small private school, which still offered numerous sports...resulting in most people in each grade playing at least 2 of the 3 sport seasons per school year. It wasn't suggested; it was expected. The ones who had played before and wanted a break were pressured to come back. The people--like me--who very determinedly said again and again that they weren't playing, were approached with guilt trips "but we need more people to have a full team."
The result, of course, was that the arts and academics both took a back burner for almost everyone in the school. This isn't about the arts, although that is an extremely long post waiting for another day--I'm an avid supporter of expanding opportunities for interested children to pursue the arts in school. This is about academics.
What they forgot to tell everyone in middle and high school, is that sports do not matter. Yes, they're fun to watch, or they're good exercise, or they teach team work, or whatever excuse you're using to push them that day... but of all the children that focus exclusively on sports to the decline of their academic studies, very few of them ever actually find a way to support themselves in any way with their game of choice.
On the other hand, focusing on becoming well-rounded academically (without necessarily being a nerd), is going to benefit you much more later in life. I've never met someone who spent time on bettering their mind and said that it was a waste. I've heard that plenty from people who focused on sports throughout their school years, only to have some part of their body give out in college.
So yes, focus on whatever interests you--pursue it. But at the end of the day, having cultivated intelligence is never going to let you down.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Empty Streets
"... maybe this is all pure gibberish—a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested . . . Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll."
-Hunter S Thompson
Monday, April 16, 2012
Break
I realized again the other day that this is an opportunity for something entirely new. Reinvention.
The first real chance I had at that was when I began college. All through elementary, middle, and high school I knew the same group of people and attended the same private school. Many of the people had known me since we were both young and awkward. It's difficult to break out of any box you have created for yourself in a situation like that. People occasionally did; they would come back from summer break with a makeover and new attitude--but that that was definitely the exception. Generally once you had been put into a box there, it was easier to just stay in it.
University gave me a sense of freedom. It was an entirely new location. A huge school compared to the one I had been at previously--my graduating class in high school had around 50 students-- that spread out over several acres gave me a chance at anonymity that I had never previously known. I began to thrive. It was a chance for self-exploration, as college should be, and since I was happy my grades were excellent as well.
I ended up having to take some time off of school after a year or so, and haven't gone back yet. I kept making new friends and exploring new interests, obviously, but there wasn't the same opportunity for expansion as before. The entire area had grown stale. Hampton Roads, while it has things to offer, is not a place where I wanted to spend my entire life.
Moving out here is the chance I needed to take, I think. It's giving me a chance to figure out who I want to be --who I want to be known as, what skills and traits I want to emphasize, what sort of impact I want to leave. While I had a great reputation back home and can not think of anyone who really disliked me, I still needed a fresh start somewhere new. A chance to break out.
The first real chance I had at that was when I began college. All through elementary, middle, and high school I knew the same group of people and attended the same private school. Many of the people had known me since we were both young and awkward. It's difficult to break out of any box you have created for yourself in a situation like that. People occasionally did; they would come back from summer break with a makeover and new attitude--but that that was definitely the exception. Generally once you had been put into a box there, it was easier to just stay in it.
University gave me a sense of freedom. It was an entirely new location. A huge school compared to the one I had been at previously--my graduating class in high school had around 50 students-- that spread out over several acres gave me a chance at anonymity that I had never previously known. I began to thrive. It was a chance for self-exploration, as college should be, and since I was happy my grades were excellent as well.
I ended up having to take some time off of school after a year or so, and haven't gone back yet. I kept making new friends and exploring new interests, obviously, but there wasn't the same opportunity for expansion as before. The entire area had grown stale. Hampton Roads, while it has things to offer, is not a place where I wanted to spend my entire life.
Moving out here is the chance I needed to take, I think. It's giving me a chance to figure out who I want to be --who I want to be known as, what skills and traits I want to emphasize, what sort of impact I want to leave. While I had a great reputation back home and can not think of anyone who really disliked me, I still needed a fresh start somewhere new. A chance to break out.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
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