<p>Personally, I hate this place. I don't know if I'm just an unreasonable person with high expectations, or if I'm right in thinking my town is unusually obnoxious. But then again, I find myself scapegoating my town for every bad thing that happens. Basically, my town is an incredibly boring, tiny bubble. The houses are VERY expensive. For a house that wouldn't be given a second glance in another town, prices would be over a million. The public school here is ranked very high, and it's basically a private school. The kids are all filthy rich, and they do crap like breaking their cell phones and telling their parents they dropped em or something so they can get new ones. And not only that, but they are HIGHLY competitive. Everyone's trying to get the better scores, and if you happen to beat them, they resent you. Oh, and I can't freaking take a walk without some idiot rolling down his window and saying something racist. This happened at least 4 times just this week. (Not everyone is like this. There are some genuinely nice people). Also, my family basically got fked over by moving to this place. My parents really wanted me and my sister to go to the school here, so they bought a house they really could not afford. And the loans got out of hand, and now my family's split apart because my father works out of the country for a higher paying job, my mom has to work day in and day out to support the family, and my sister is at a very expensive private university. So basically I live by myself; I see my Dad twice a year, I see my mom late at night, and I see my sister once a year. And I used to have a dog I was really close with, but he just died dammit. I'll probably find a way to scapegoat this town for that too.</p>
<p>I hate my school. With the exception of 2 or 3 great teachers that I’ve had, all of the teachers suck. The only thing the teachers care about is the completely irrelevant New York State Regents exam because good regents scores are how they keep their jobs. SAT 2 and honors classes are not geared toward the SAT 2 and dumbed down a lot because the SAT 2 is optional and no one takes it except me and maybe 2 other people. There is not one good math teacher. My calc bc teacher has no idea what he is doing and often cannot answer questions so I’m forced to learn it myself this summer. Everyone drinks just because everyone else does. All of our counselors dont want to be bothered with anything. I really can’t wait to go to college.</p>
<p>err. i’m sorry to hear about your story first of all. and second, well its not gonna last forever, trust me college will be at your doorstep in no time. i can’t say i hate my school because there have been good memories i’ll always cherish but i won’t say i love it either. yeah we have those competitive students who resent you if you end up scoring higher than them, but we also have nice students as well. either way i’m just glad this is the last year for me.</p>
<p>I like my HS; it’s private, small classes/grades, and no cutthroat feeling. It’s competive in the sense that you have to be top 3 to be top 10%. I have great teachers, and am very involved here. But I’m extremely lucky to be here, and I know it. I feel blessed that my parents work as hard as they do so I’m better prepared for college</p>
<p>In hindsight, I kind of hate my old HS. I was waaaaay behind in math, spanish, and my bio class wasn’t as hard as my new school (well, so I’ve been told). They pampered the students w/ easy homework, not challenging classes, and encouraging chillin’. It was the ultimate fun for HS experience and whatnot, but it wasn’t a SCHOOL. More like a pricey day care for spoiled children. </p>
<p>A coffee house, convenient store, great fields (6 of them), 3 very nice gyms (BC rented the gym once), former NBA player was AD, former Wake/UNC coaches & players as bball/soccer/lacrosse coaches. I was tied for top 5 in my grade (all 4.0s), and I was very behind at my new school. Sorry for ranting, but I’m glad that I left that place. Kids cared more about what Lacoste, Burberry, Armani, 7 Jeans, etc. were the latest style instead of an upcoming test. Not very academic…bleh :eek:</p>
<p>@OP & othres: I’m really sorry that you’re not happy, as your situation(s) sounds very difficult to cope with. Just rememebr, the harder you work in HS will lead you to a great path in college. Who knows, top 10 schools give good FA. Show up all the kids by getting into your #1 choice…show all the haters how high you can fly! ;)</p>
<p>I have to agree with Skywalker23, I too have a love/hate relationship with my school. The teachers here are nice and most of them are genuinely concerned about helping you and educating you rather than ramming facts down your throat. Our classes are open to discussion and almost all of the teachers are approachable. The ones that aren’t, are few and in between, and they are usually just too busy because they’ve taken on another responsibility like coordinating the tests, or events. </p>
<p>However, the students are usually unmotivated, rowdy, and do their best to undermine the teachers’ wishes to educate us. Basically we have some of the best teachers I have ever encountered, but we clearly do not learn enough because most of the students interfere with our ability to do so. </p>
<p>Tikiman53: I see you live in CA. Yes, CA is expensive, and kind of in a rut right now to say at the least. I hope your situation improves.</p>
<p>I’m mixed about my school. Like any “elite” place of learning, people are here for different reasons. Some kids are here because they’re brilliant. I love these kids. Some kids are here because their parents bought their way in. I generally dislike these kids. Same with teachers. Some sought the job because they love passing down knowledge and interacting with students. Still, some wanted the job because it was easy/cushy as well as respectable/prestigious.</p>
<p>My school is pretty awesome. Chill teachers, smart students, pretty campus. The only thing that sucked was the lack of cool classes/ theater space, but now I’m glad of that because I’m not taking any LA classes next year in college.</p>
<p>cramped school, bad campus, but GREAT teachers (at least most of time.) As for the OP I can relate on the racist part kinda. An old women in my county once called the police cause she thought me and my family were terrorists…Every time there is a bomb scare at my school all–and I mean ALL–the minority kids get checked. We get stopped in halls and harassed by security any time there is a perceived threat (which most of the time is utter BS). I hate how my school is 96% white (this is a true statistic) and most people are just utterly spoiled kids asking daddy for a new car while I’m working at fing taco bell saving for all the college application fees. The only things I look forward too in my school are the great teachers and the cool friends I have.</p>
<p>the bad: nowhere really to hang out (it’s a rural area), i HATE winter here (gets cold as hell), school needs more clubs, some teachers are of questionable quality. oh, and to add to humiliation: we are the envy of all the other high schools in our league (and area) when it comes to sports, but we get slaughtered usually when we play down the hill kids in CIF…</p>
<p>goods: wonderful asb teacher (but mediocre-performance from the asb kids themselves,) some teachers are really fun/interestin, so on.</p>
<p>love it. very glad i happen to live in a place where you have your decent public school, several private schools, and five different magnets to (try to) go to…</p>
<p>Ahhh memories, I remember around application time when I sat down with my guidance counselor to send out my transcripts/recommendations. He smeared cupcake icing on my Columbia ED letter of recommendation…</p>