The crown of ribbons
Monday, June 20, 2005
Summer
School's out, the parties are over, and summer is finally truly here. It's a wonderful feeling to wake up in the morning and find that the usual list of "things I have to do today" (go to school, homework for math, paper for english, practice violin, project for history, fill out form for Guidance, read packet for science, study for french test...) consists of: "hmm. I think I want to take a bike ride today - it's sunny. And I should write the Thank You cards for all those wonderful gifts I got yesterday. Maybe I can bring my laptop outside and work on them there. Oooh, I want to read my book for at least two hours..." It's so relaxing.
I had two fabulous parties this weekend: a birthday party on Saturday with twenty-odd teenagers smashing pinatas, fingerpainting, and discussing how to change the world; and a graduation garden party with thirty-odd adults (and me) in fancy dresses eating pastries and discussing my (very bright)future. Great fun.
My mother made me a crown of blue flowers and pearls and asked everyone in their invitation to write a message on a ribbon, which she attached to the crown and gave to me - an inspirational crown of flowers. It's gorgeous, and I'm so glad I'll be able to take it with me when I go.
Well, I should get back to writing the thank you notes...
I had two fabulous parties this weekend: a birthday party on Saturday with twenty-odd teenagers smashing pinatas, fingerpainting, and discussing how to change the world; and a graduation garden party with thirty-odd adults (and me) in fancy dresses eating pastries and discussing my (very bright)future. Great fun.
My mother made me a crown of blue flowers and pearls and asked everyone in their invitation to write a message on a ribbon, which she attached to the crown and gave to me - an inspirational crown of flowers. It's gorgeous, and I'm so glad I'll be able to take it with me when I go.
Well, I should get back to writing the thank you notes...
Friday, June 17, 2005
The End of the Beginning
My last day of school was last Friday (the 10th), my 17th birthday was Tuesday (flag day. ug), and graduation was today. Everything's happening at once, and I feel like I'm being hurled into the future at light speed. I still don't believe that in exactly two months I'll be getting on an airplane and leaving my childhood home forever.
I guess I should explain all this.
My childhood home: perfection personified (or rather objectified...) We live in a beautiful house that we redid four years ago to our own (very eccentric and quite cool) tastes, so we have a secret passageway connecting my cubbyhole bed to the playroom across the hallway, two bookshelves that open up to reveal secret rooms, grass and flowers growing on the roof, and what seems to be a tropical jungle set to order for a garden, with beautiful flowers coexisting with rows of strawberries and Swiss chard. Out back is a large field (not ours - we only have 1/3 of an acre - but we get to use it like our own) and woods and two small ponds.
This is where I've grown up, the place I've called "home" for all but two years. Those two years (my 6th and 7th) my family took me traveling: first to Japan, where I went to public kindergarten and 1st grade, and then to Norway, where I went to the Montessori school up the road from our tiny house. Those two years changed my life - I returned to the US with a mind like a field: bright, open and inspired. I went to the local school for three years then and assimilated back into the American way of life (or as much as I could). I skipped the social rollercoasters of 6th and 7th grades by homeschooling for two years and in the process discovered myself fully (for the time - I've obviously changed since then, but I had the base to work off of from those years).
I returned to school in 8th grade and went on to high school excited. High school was completely different than I'd read or seen in movies: I noticed no obviously exclusionary cliques, bullying or the other social epidemics people say are running rampant in our school systems. Instead, I found myself a nice, diverse group of friends, (ranging from intellectuals to gamers to "punks" to just plain teenage boys) interesting classes that I did well in, and lots of stuff to do outside of school - violin, soccer (a little), folk dance, German and English classes left over from homeschooling, and other seasonal activities.
While this was happening, I was beginning to feel that my life was perfect - too perfect to be truly fair. I felt that I had a debt to the world that I had to repay by giving others at least some of the joy I had felt growing up. As I explored this feeling, I realized that not only did I feel like I had to do this, but I wanted to. The idea of bringing people understanding and a global vision resonated with me like nothing else except the dream to work for the New York Times Book Review (what a life: read great books, write about them, and get paid for it! :) ) and was better, because it fit with what I now thought of as my calling.
My only problem was that I didn't know what to do or where to start. I looked, but nothing specific called out to me yet. Until a cousin told me about UWC: the United World Colleges. 10 colleges spread out around the world, promoting global understanding and change. Two years in a school composed of 2-400 students coming from over 80 different countries dedicated to an international vision and community service, all together in an academically rigorous International Baccaloreat program. I felt like the schools were founded with me in mind - there was nothing in the description that wasn't exactly what I'd always wanted, from being surrounded by my intellectual peers to going to school in another country to having the oppertunity to talk politics and philosophy with people of vastly differrent backgrounds. On top of that, there was a college in Italy that had a partnership with a nearby music school so I'd be able to continue studying violin while I was there as well as learn Italian, my dream language.
Unfortunately I was ending freshman year at the time, and the college was for senior and gap years: two years away. Not only that, but it was a very selective college, and the Italian college was supposedly the hardest one to get into. I waited for two years, building my "resumee," wishing, dreaming, and hoping that I would get in. I decided to graduate a year early so I could go to UWC and have two diplomas instead of one (always fun) and have a backup if I didn't get in.
This year I finally applied, got an interview, and was accepted to none other than the Italian college. And having graduated today, I'm officially done with my beginning and on to the middle of my life. I hope it's as spectacular as the first part was and more involved in promoting my dream of spreading understanding.
Here I go!
I guess I should explain all this.
My childhood home: perfection personified (or rather objectified...) We live in a beautiful house that we redid four years ago to our own (very eccentric and quite cool) tastes, so we have a secret passageway connecting my cubbyhole bed to the playroom across the hallway, two bookshelves that open up to reveal secret rooms, grass and flowers growing on the roof, and what seems to be a tropical jungle set to order for a garden, with beautiful flowers coexisting with rows of strawberries and Swiss chard. Out back is a large field (not ours - we only have 1/3 of an acre - but we get to use it like our own) and woods and two small ponds.
This is where I've grown up, the place I've called "home" for all but two years. Those two years (my 6th and 7th) my family took me traveling: first to Japan, where I went to public kindergarten and 1st grade, and then to Norway, where I went to the Montessori school up the road from our tiny house. Those two years changed my life - I returned to the US with a mind like a field: bright, open and inspired. I went to the local school for three years then and assimilated back into the American way of life (or as much as I could). I skipped the social rollercoasters of 6th and 7th grades by homeschooling for two years and in the process discovered myself fully (for the time - I've obviously changed since then, but I had the base to work off of from those years).
I returned to school in 8th grade and went on to high school excited. High school was completely different than I'd read or seen in movies: I noticed no obviously exclusionary cliques, bullying or the other social epidemics people say are running rampant in our school systems. Instead, I found myself a nice, diverse group of friends, (ranging from intellectuals to gamers to "punks" to just plain teenage boys) interesting classes that I did well in, and lots of stuff to do outside of school - violin, soccer (a little), folk dance, German and English classes left over from homeschooling, and other seasonal activities.
While this was happening, I was beginning to feel that my life was perfect - too perfect to be truly fair. I felt that I had a debt to the world that I had to repay by giving others at least some of the joy I had felt growing up. As I explored this feeling, I realized that not only did I feel like I had to do this, but I wanted to. The idea of bringing people understanding and a global vision resonated with me like nothing else except the dream to work for the New York Times Book Review (what a life: read great books, write about them, and get paid for it! :) ) and was better, because it fit with what I now thought of as my calling.
My only problem was that I didn't know what to do or where to start. I looked, but nothing specific called out to me yet. Until a cousin told me about UWC: the United World Colleges. 10 colleges spread out around the world, promoting global understanding and change. Two years in a school composed of 2-400 students coming from over 80 different countries dedicated to an international vision and community service, all together in an academically rigorous International Baccaloreat program. I felt like the schools were founded with me in mind - there was nothing in the description that wasn't exactly what I'd always wanted, from being surrounded by my intellectual peers to going to school in another country to having the oppertunity to talk politics and philosophy with people of vastly differrent backgrounds. On top of that, there was a college in Italy that had a partnership with a nearby music school so I'd be able to continue studying violin while I was there as well as learn Italian, my dream language.
Unfortunately I was ending freshman year at the time, and the college was for senior and gap years: two years away. Not only that, but it was a very selective college, and the Italian college was supposedly the hardest one to get into. I waited for two years, building my "resumee," wishing, dreaming, and hoping that I would get in. I decided to graduate a year early so I could go to UWC and have two diplomas instead of one (always fun) and have a backup if I didn't get in.
This year I finally applied, got an interview, and was accepted to none other than the Italian college. And having graduated today, I'm officially done with my beginning and on to the middle of my life. I hope it's as spectacular as the first part was and more involved in promoting my dream of spreading understanding.
Here I go!
