Saturday, October 4, 2008
360 Degrees: The Academy
I am curious about how people, outside of the Academy, view the Academy. How do people who applied for Academy but were not accepted view the Academy? Do they have a negative view regarding it because they were not accepted? I am also curious about the people's view of the Academy who got into Academy, but decided to decline their acceptance. Maybe they think that Academy would not offer them the chance to meet as many new people? What I've seen is if a person asks a group of people "who is in Academy here?", these people say that they were accepted but decided not to do it. Do they feel good about themselves because they proved that they were able to get in? I also wonder about the perspective of the Academy from the teachers not involved in it. Do they think the Academy teachers think they're better than the outside of Academy teachers? How does the general student body view the Academy? Do they see the Academy as a group of elitists, stuck-up kids? Do they see the Academy as "social suicide"? I'd like to think that if they examined the group of kids in Academy, they would see that there are many different types of people. We have athletes, musicians, singers, mathematicians, actors/actresses, class presidents/representatives, and many more. I would like to think that people would wait to establish their view of the Academy until they fully understand the Academy and what type of people are involved in it. Many people do not really understand what the Academy is about and what is required to be in it. I have had many people come up and ask me why I'm in their math class and aren't I supposed to be in Academy? I tell them that Academy is only for Social Studies, a foreign language, and English. They just look at me dazed and I have no idea what their view of Academy is. However, I know that people will not wait to understand something before they create their own view/opinions about it. That's why there are so many different view of the Glenbrook Academy of International Studies.
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6 comments:
Emily this is a great point you've brought up! I find it very frustrating being judged because of Academy. I find that students outside of Academy expect more from me by way of project contribution and organization. Some people even ask me to do the entire thing because they think I'm smarter than them. Similarly, I've encountered many teachers who dislike Academy kids and call them 'elitists'. This infuriates me. Although clearly misconceptions about Academy originated from somewhere, everyone really needs to reconsider their views and interpretations.
I think the point you've hit on transfers into all aspects of life, outside of just the Glenbrook Academy. Everyone needs to keep in mind that when they judge something, especially negatively, they are often ill-informed and unaware. I think that is one advantage we get. Because we have been judged based on our class placement, we understand what it's like. Hopefully people turn this into a positive and remember to avoid making this kind of mistake in their lives and in their interactions with other people.
Hey Emily, great post!!
It often strikes me that since we are on the "inside" we assume that everyone understands what academy is. However, I've found that I've had to explain what is about 1000 times to various friends and acquaintances. I also agree with you that people judge us before they get to know us. Not only is this detrimental to our rep, but it makes a lot more complicated if people are giving opinions on things they don't understand.
Though a lot of people view us a stuck up smart asses (sorry 4 the swearing Alyssa!!) once you get to know us, you realize that we usually aren't as smart as everyone thinks we are. I truly have come to love academy and all the people who are envolved in it, and it is difficult for me to view objectively, but I know we are all great, and kind people who would do anything for their fellow academites, and people who judge us are all missing out.
I often feel that I am so removed from my highschool because I can't imagine my highschool experience without academy, and most people at GBS don't even understand what academy is.
Emily. Wow, this is an amazing post. You have no idea (well, you probably do) how often I find myself wondering what people think about the Academy and why. I'm not sure where these misconceptions have come from but in my opinion, people should definitely re-evaluate their views. It is really aggravating to hear people's judgements and generalizations of us based off of their ignorance about Academy. I don't liked being labeled and this is often the case with us. Unless someone asks me, I don't mention being in Academy for fear of being stereotyped. Sometimes I get asked incredulously, "you're in Academy?" Like you said, they definitely don't realize the diversity of the kids in Academy. We're not just "Academites." On the plus side, I think our experiences in the Academy will discourage us from making such judgements in the future after being subjected to them ourselves. Hopefully the people that are judging us can take a closer look and see us for who we are.
I really like how you objectively observed the issue and left your own opinions out. This really gives your blog the 360 concept and makes it much more unbiased. And thus, more credible.
Great job!
Emily,
Awesome idea for a 360 degrees post! I often wonder how those people who turned academy down feel. Do they tell themselves they're better than academy? Or do they think they could have been awesome here? I've had people find out I'm in academy and give me a shocked look, some of them even add "I didn't know you were smart." Seriously, they have, haha. I think we should be able to give GBS a taste of what academy is. We should make a documentary or something like that, and show them who we are!
Emily-
Great point! I wonder about this all the time too! So many people have wrong stereotypes about the academy...I've had people say things as ridiculous as, "Academy kids shouldn't be able to run for class board because they're at South for half the day." Not sure how that relates, but anyways, the point is that people just plain don't understand what the program is! I've also met people for the first time who were like, "I've never seen you before." Jokingly, I reply, "I'm in Academy." The typical response is, "Well that explains it." Seriously, it's almost like we're invisible to the rest of the student body! It makes me angry sometimes, because we're not all the super-intelligent, socially awkward people that others assume we are.
But anyways, great job! You really summarized your thoughts well, and definitely thought about the topic from "360 degrees" :]
-Kate
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