<p>vivaldi87, u're a great person.. don't let others bring you down...</p>
<p>I'm trying not to, but I really don't like the negativity and the accusations...</p>
<p>Oh well. :(</p>
<p>EDIT: and thanks, by the way :)</p>
<p>Read Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" (or go see "The Incredibles"). Success isn't a dirty word, people. Vivaldi and her school have a right to be proud and happy, especially when they aren't doing anything to put anyone else down.</p>
<p>Haha, I remember Harrison Bergeron from like 8th grade, pretty interesting short story.</p>
<p>I'm a new member, so I don't know you well...but the responses to your thread were a bit too PC and somewhat unrealistic. Who among us can honestly say that we haven't dreamed about the looks on the faces of ppl close to us when we get accepted into a certain school? Or some variation of that, anyways. Not caring about what other ppl think is a worthy trait, but getting into college is very often a community effort, as evidenced by your experience. My own experience certainly doesn't compare to yours, but I was definitely moved by the reaction of my GC office to the good news. </p>
<p>So don't be down. I don't think that people were really judging you, just trying to be helpful. Perhaps there was a bit of misunderstanding on both sides of the aisle...</p>
<p>Vivaldi and her school</p>
<p>what? Try Vivaldi and **his* school*...:)</p>
<p>Vivaldi, I was going to say something about the "her"...but I didn't want you to think I was stalking you by remembering that you actually were male. Hahaha. :o) Congrats again on EA...but I do have a shallow question for you....I'll just PM you</p>
<p>Apologies, sir. I'm new to these parts.</p>
<p>:) no apologies necessary...and I'm relatively new, too. I'm just an obsessive poster now.</p>
<p>I apologize if you were offended by my post, I was simply comparing your situation with the situation of a friend of mine in my mind- the two are almost identical. Only, the school was MIT, and the town was somewhere in the middle of Arizona, where maybe 2 kids went to college each year. His reaction was simply the polar opposite of yours (not in terms of happiness and pride, but in terms of desire for publicity since most of his friends could NOT go to college) and perhaps I was thrown off a bit by his view of the situation. </p>
<p>I did not read through the rest of the posts before I made my comments or else I would probably not have said anything - so that you wouldn't feel "attacked" or defensive. And though I will offer no retort in response - arguments online are pointless and ugly - I do want you to realize that I did not call you inconsiderate or rude, but the actions of your eager teachers and principals IF they were to persist in your school. I have personally seen the receiving end of the school's emphasis and pride, and in some cases, it wasn't pretty. And what I stated as arrogant was bragging (in general) to people who did not ask for an admissions decision, or to people who are unable to attend college themselves. You do not seem like a rude or inconsiderate person yourself, or else you would not have reacted so adversely, however, I only posted my thoughts because of what I have seen and heard in my school and others. Since you seem like an agreeable person who does not enjoy confrontations, I wanted to offer some advice on the arguments of "the other side" and why you may be receiving these dissenting comments. I apologize if I was not polite enough in my addressing of the issues. I, personally, hate to say, OR hear, "I was only trying to help", but this was seriously my intention and I'm sorry if it seemed like an insult concealed in a "compliment".</p>
<p>...I have personally seen the receiving end of the school's emphasis and pride, and in some cases, it wasn't pretty.</p>
<p>What a thoughtful, intelligent post, Pebbles. I feel there are some complicated issues here, with no easy solutions. On the one hand, I do understand that it can be hurtful for a school to recognize the accomplishments of a few individuals over those of everyone else (though most people don't seem to mind when those accomplishments are athletic rather than scholastic). But I also think there's a downside to not celebrating exceptional achievement.</p>
<p>We live in a school district that has been steadily chipping away at academic incentives and recognition. In grade school there used to be a very limited (about 45 minutes once a week) pull-out program for gifted and talented students. That program has now been eliminated because some parents complained that their kids were hurt not to be included. In the upper grades there used to be academic awards ceremonies at the end of every year. They have now done away with those ceremonies, although they technically still give awards: The teachers try to catch the kids at a time when one is around and sneak them their certificates. When there are budget crunches, the advanced courses are always the first to be cut; but in any case, since the school has eliminated admissions criteria for those courses, they're not as advanced as they used to be.</p>
<p>While I believe these changes were well-intentioned, the result is a culture where its not clearly not cool to be smart. Some of the best and the brightest kids cant wait to get away to college, while others are never encouraged to develop their true potential.</p>
<p>Again, I dont know the right answers here. I am certainly not advocating arrogance or favoritism. But I believe that challenging kids to work a little harder in school--and honoring those kids when their work pays off--can be a force for good rather than for evil.</p>
<p>excellent post, editrix.</p>
<p>The dude got into Yale, he's allowed to celebrate. You wouldn't have enjoyed the praise if you'd gotten in?</p>
<p>he can celebrate netshark, but maybe making a post about how awesome his day at school was wasn't the best idea when there are many, including myself, who were thoroughly dissappointed.</p>
<p>Rock on Vivaldi, this is YOUR time. Enjoy every moment, you more than deserve it.</p>
<p>The thread's title says "How was school today?" If you're not in that group of newly-minted Yalies, no matter what the poster's saying, you're going to be disappointed. If you don't like the topic, don't read more. Better yet, make a post for those who didn't get in. I don't want to be bitter, but let the guy celebrate! He obviously earned his right to make that post.</p>
<p>Relax Laertes and let the man celebrate. And dont get soo down on yourself..its just a school..just some brick buildings. It does not make you in the end.
GoodLuck</p>
<p>Hmmm...there seems to be at least some clarification. :)</p>
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<li><p>Thanks, pebbles - I didn't mean to snap at you in return; I just thought people were getting the wrong impression of me, that's all. And I can certainly see the similarities between myself and your friend - I normally shun publicity. In my first thread, I talked about a newspaper article written about how I was planning to apply to Yale. That was one of the reasons I wasn't too worried about publicity this time - letting people know I got in was a sort of closure. And in the original post in this thread, I didn't mention the not-so-nice comments I got at school that day. I'm the furthest thing from a jock, and one of our school's star athletes (with a 1.5 GPA, I think...most athletes only do enough work to get that 1.5, the minimum for eligibility in our school) made it known that he couldn't believe that "that kid" (me) got into Yale - he let everyone know how disgusting it was that academically-minded students were getting recognized over people like him. For the last few years, athletes have been promoted over scholars at our school - last year, for example, three football players were indicted on charges of rape, and a few days later, our local newspaper published an article touting them (yes, those three, among others) as our school's ideal students. Our new principal is trying to change all that, and she was excited about having me as an example (even when I normally would hate that sort of thing).</p></li>
<li><p>TO THOSE READING THIS THREAD WHO WERE NOT RECENTLY ACCEPTED: I apologize again. I didn't post this thread to taunt non-acceptees with acceptees' good news; I merely intended it to take a direction similar to "accepted student" threads on other boards here. I put the focus in my post on my school's reaction because it was a unique situation - those who read my first thread noticed and agreed with this. I thought it would be interesting to see, after months of stress, how others felt at school after being accepted, and I wanted to see if anyone else had situations resembling mine. An icebreaker, if you will. I never suspected it would be so controversial. And I wish you all the best of luck in your other applications. Believe me, it is obvious that the results could have come out in reverse and have still made a good deal of sense.</p></li>
<li><p>editrix: wow, that sounds like my school. We, too, had a pull-out program for gifted elementary students that was cut shortly after I went through it, and the atmosphere here is generally very similar to that at your school. Thanks for your post.</p></li>
<li><p>Laertes, please read my other posts on here. If you do and still find them distasteful, I apologize. Still, however, my post wasn't about publicizing the "praise" I received at school; rather, it was about how the news of my acceptance (1) lifted a weight off my shoulders, (2) affected my teachers and principal, and (3) affected school morale. Further, if I hadn't been accepted on Wednesday, I wouldn't have gone into threads clearly intended for accepted students unless I could handle things of that nature. I don't think anyone on this forum would do things with the express purpose of hurting others' feelings - we all know the uncertainty and emotion involved in the elite college admissions process.</p></li>
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<p>ugh.....if you dont like this thread....dont read it.</p>
<p>Wow guys, stop making such a big deal over nothing.</p>