A brilliant, young writer friend of mine used to counter the
question of how he must of had an extremely high grade point
average in college because of his early life successes (a
well-paying job, he was published with a major publishing house
while in his 20s, he did radio broadcasting on CNN, and he had an
up-and-coming acting career) with the comment,
”
I never let school get in the way of my education.
”
A brilliant, young writer friend of mine used to counter the question of how he must of had an extremely high grade point average in college because of his early life successes (a well-paying job, he was published with a major publishing house while in his 20s, he did radio broadcasting on CNN, and he had an up-and-coming acting career) with the comment, “I never let school get in the way of my education.”
There are some local school boards that might be appalled with that statement, and they refuse to admit that travel (which is how my writer friend came across much of his inspiration) can – and usually is – educational. The fact that there is no official curriculum does not mitigate the fact that moving outside of our normal routines and habitats to experience something new could bring life changes. Missing three days of school – most of which will be soon forgotten – because a school board cannot differentiate between the spirit of a policy and the intelligent analysis of benefits to the students is a sad statement for our educational system. And I understand the need to collect those all-important state funds when the students are sitting inside a classroom. It’s still sad. Money rules our better senses.
Besides, I can just see “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” reporting on the mass exodus of students to football games in Hawaii with everyone joining cheer squads to ditch school! Then the counter-report by the Colbert Report arming all teaches (and maybe school board members?) with handguns (with proper training, of course, paid for by the funds acquired by all students attending classes) to keep the students from boarding planes to far-off destinations to non-approved locales. It will be educational anarchy, but I bet their geography scores will improve!
Why am I so sensitive? While a student at a local high school in the ’80s, our school orchestra was denied a trip to Southern California because it occurred during the week of school finals. No amount of reasonable logic worked on the school principal at the time, and I heard my first, “you shut up and sit down!” from that administrator while pleading our case.
I was in contempt of his court, and I have possibly exacted the ultimate revenge by becoming a writer. They can only tell me that on the phone or in an e-mail after it’s been printed. I feel a bond with the cheerleaders of our community, and I’m happy that they have successfully appealed their case.
My high school classmates and I, too, won our appeal and traveled to Southern California to perform with our orchestra. I am no longer in high school, but I do still play my violin and I met the most important person in my life through my dedication to music. Sometimes extracurricular can be extraordinary.
Ciao for now.
