Before I begin, I want you to check out this link. This is the wikipedia list for "notable alumni from New Trier High School." Notice that all of the people listed, have achieved some sort of high honor in their studies/life. For example, a major league baseball player, CEO's of major businesses, crucial politicians, and Nobel Prize winning scientist's are all apart of the list. What message does this send current day New Trier students? Friday in class, we held this exact discussion.
New Trier has always had the reputation for hardcore education and high achieving graduates. Yikes, thats a lot of pressure for students to live up too! Although we have some extremely successful alumni, what about the majority of New Trier graduates? Where do they fit into the picture.
In my mind, a 4th grade teacher is just as successful as a television star. Success isn't marked by the amount of money you make. Success is accomplishing goals and doing things that make you happy. So what makes Reinn Wilson more "notable" then lets say, Bobby Smith (a fellow new trier graduate). It seems that New Trier upholds this image saying that success is in relation to money and fame. Is that moral? It makes me think, if I don't do something incredible...I am letting my high school, and my reputation down?
It just upsets me that "The Wall of Fame" and the "Where are They Now" organizations at New Trier are only honoring this minority of famous and insanely intelligent New Trier Students. Those two adjectives surly do not define New Trier as a whole. To me, a person who is very involved in our society or is very generous to the less fortunate is just as "notable" as a playboy CEO!
I think that all people are valuable as well. But you have to think about what New Trier wants kids to think. They want to tell them that this is what you can do with your life. I feel like it is a statement of, "We have prepared you and now you can go and do whatever you choose, no matter how high the goal," not a, "Go and get rich or your life is a waste." I feel like if the people mentioned were janitors and garbage men, I would wonder what I actually had to look forward to in my education. I would think, "Is this all I am going to be? A garbage man?" Don't get me wrong. Garbage men may be the best people, but it doesn't seem like a fulfilling job to me. I would feel cornered into doing something that I don't want to. I think that New Trier is trying to encourage its students, not expect too much from them. There will be people who become 4th grade teachers, as you said, and they will add to society in addition to the basketball stars, janitors, and Nobel Prize winners. In the end, I think that New Trier makes a pretty good point to tell people, "Do what you love to do."
ReplyDeleteDavrid makes a good point about achieving a goal, assuming that it IS the intent of the NTHS Wall of Fame. I am not so sure that the message is actually "Do what you love to do". Where is the evidence for that.
ReplyDeleteSarah, nice link to the Wikipedia article -- never knew this existed. But much of this post seems like a summary of class discussion. Could you take it further? Could you relate it to larger American themes of what defines success? Or is NTHS just an island, or a "city upon a hill"?