<p>ctnjpamom,</p>
<p>I'm really just trying to make the same point as jmmom (I believe you said it better than I did jmmom), that is, the prestige=objective knowledge thing always seems to be there whether we want it to be or not. It is knowledge, because it is objectively true and "out there" and because we are like sponges when it comes to absorbing what we learn/hear/read.</p>
<p>"We believe all ponds to be fathomless" because we want our lives to be fathomless; but as Thoreau proved to himself, Walden Pond was not fathomless, it had a measurable depth. I suppose I am measuring my depth as honestly as I can and I know I am not as idealistic or fathomless as I sometime think. </p>
<p>My daughter and I went to the pond after she'd visited all her schools and done all her interviews to reflect on the grand choice she was about to make. When we turned to walk away from the site of Thoreau's hut she decided she needed a stone to place on the rock pile that marks the relic of Thoreaus hut. We walked a little ways and crossed a dried up rivulet. When she looked down she saw what appeared to be an unusual stone, picked it up and held an old Indian spear-head in her hand. She took it as an omen. We took it to the museum in Concord and they told us it was about a 4000 year old spear-head. It is now her most prized possession. </p>
<p>This story was the bulk of her admissions essay.</p>
<p>She ended up applying to Dartmouth ed.</p>