Friday, July 7, 2017

What we learned: High School Senior, Liberal Arts edition

It’s been a momentous six weeks here.  Our youngest child has now graduated from high school.  Our middle child has graduated from college.  My name appeared in the print edition of The Economist, that noble British rag.

Here are a few tidbits from the traditional interview I conduct with my children at the end of the school year, in which I force them to answer this question: 

What did you learn this school year?

Younger Daughter’s answers, forthwith. 
Believe it or not, these answers are abridged from the original.

English
YD: In English, I learned that you have to read all the way to the end of the book.  Otherwise you won’t do well on the test. 
Me: What book did you learn that lesson on?
YD:  Crime and Punishment. I also learned how to be excited intelligently about books.  I learned the word ‘epistolary.’

Economics
In Economics I learned how to draw a graph, and also that weed is the best definition of a perfectly competitive market.
Me, demonstrating that the most important part of parenthood is not overreacting:   By “weed,” do you mean… pot?
YD:   Yeah.  And I learned that foreign exchange is hard to understand.
Me:   Wait a minute.  How is weed a perfectly competitive market?
YD:   Because it is such a new market.  There are no cartels.  [She is referring to medical marijuana, which was legalized in Pennsylvania in 2016.  It is, indeed, a brand new economic market.]

Poetry
In Poetry class I learned that poetry is composed of moments, not of grandiose redefining of the universe.  It is difficult to end a poem, but it can be even more difficult to start a poem.  And I learned that Mr. Teacher is awesome.

Lunch 
(This was a discussion that will remain off the record.  Let’s just say that for some high schoolers, lunchtime remains the most uncertain period of the school day.)
Me: So you didn’t learn anything about, say, pizza, or fruit?
YD:   I learned that I like grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Me: Yes, that’s good.  It’s a classic.


And here is Part 2, Science and Math.

Procession of VIPs, High School version

4 comments:

Patience_Crabstick said...

Congratulations on your children's successes! I'm going to go to that economist article now. 😀

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on ALL THREE accomplishments! Wow!
And I love that she took a poetry class.

The Crislers said...

I have missed so much!

Even though you provided the link, I still shrieked to see your name right there in THE ECONOMIST (all caps for emphasis).

Belated congratulations to your children and to you and Husband, for graduations and launching of children and everything else!

And oh, man, lunch time in high school. What a dreaded time of day. I remember sitting in the library with the only openly gay kid in my high school at lunch, both of us feeling too weird and awkward and outsider-ish to brave the lunch room. My heart ached to read that paragraph. SO GLAD that is all over.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

SQUEEEE!! I'm proud of you and your dedication to making our world a better place. And of course, congratulations to all of your family on successful ventures in schooling, parenting, and "adulting."

Side note: Why are lunch rooms so painfully awkward? While there are some good memories, I can close my eyes and see the cafeteria in every school I ever attended (including my university) and feel those insecurities.