Monday, December 10, 2007
I have never attended a private school before this and I've always had quite negative inclinations towards them, their students, and their administrations. By the time I was in 4th grade many of my friends had begun to transfer into private schools, mostly to all-girls/boys schools (those few that I knew that attended Catholic schools had moved at around 2nd or 3rd grade). Nothing would change in terms of our usual gatherings and outings but naturally we said our goodbyes. We feared for the worst: that they would become one of them.

It's not that we were unreasonably poor - I'm sure most of us in our group had parents that could afford to send their kids to private schools - certainly though, our parents had very different views on education. The wealth of some of my friends was also not so easily distinguished. It was hidden not among luxurious and excessive displays of material possessions such as jewelry as much as it was shown in their houses. They weren't big mansions but they were historical landmarks. Virginia as a whole often fails to attract many tourists because of its lack of "exciting" attractions. What we have are centuries of American history perserved within our seemingly dark and distant forests. We're over our heads in history that I sometimes think people have already forgotten about us ("Oh, well, at least we know that we won't ever get attacked by terrorists!" from a friend).

Nonetheless, I didn't think much of those "private school girls." In terms of education and intelligence they certainly did not amount to much. They were shallow and had such a negative assertiveness to their whole persona. They had so much confidence in everything that came out of their mouths regardless of what nonsense they spewed out. They lived lavishly in hopes that the spotlight would forever be on them. Unfortunately, a lot of my friends became these girls. My relationships with them grew to be quite interesting. I had my closer friends with whom I would mock and make fun of the prissies but I was not at all mean to them. Whenever we got together it just seemed like a big joke. Naturally, I did not think as highly of them. They had too many secrets around them, it was the grandest scale of hypocricies.

People here are often quite surprised to know that I had gone to a public school in the states. My middle school especially was predominantly African-American. Sure, there was trouble but in many ways I think my head was straighter there than it is here. I guess you can say I have yet to master the art of juggling my deceptions.

Sometimes I wonder who's pitying who...

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posted by Pb, lead at 12:41 PM |

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