I think the Byrds were right. They harmonized the words for the song, There is a Season. My favorite part was always the drawn out Turn, Turn, Turn and even now I turn up the volume and drum my steering wheel when I'm in the car and it comes on the radio. We live fairly close to my husband's grandparents and I'd like to get down on paper soon some of their life experiences. I need to make it happen.
It just seems like things are changing. Duh Missy, right? Things have most definitely changed since the 1960's, but sometimes I wonder just how much change is good for our future. Does anyone else?
Being a mother, I can't help but always think ahead. It's part of me now. I read an article in the New York Times tonight that affirms what I believe can be a constant.
Michael Winerip {the author} interviews random Harvard hopefuls as part of his alumni status. High school seniors meet him at his home, after busting their buns through high school for their final interview into the ivy league school. Sadly, throughout the last forty years that he has done such, only one girl was accepted. Winerip describes his experience versus what he sees today.
There was the girl who, during summer vacation, left her house before 7 each morning to make a two-hour train ride to a major university, where she worked all day doing cutting-edge research for NASA on weightlessness in mice.
When I was in high school, my 10th-grade science project was on plant tropism — a shoebox with soil and bean sprouts bending toward the light.
These kids who don’t get into Harvard spend summers on schooners in Chesapeake Bay studying marine biology, building homes for the poor in Central America, touring Europe with all-star orchestras.
Summers, I dug trenches for my local sewer department during the day, and sold hot dogs at Fenway Park at night.
And the list goes on and on. I'll be honest, it made me sad. What will Avery be up against when it comes time for her to apply for college? Things are just changing. Big time. And then I read the last paragraph of the article and was given a little more hope.
He concludes by stating that not one of his four children want {nor does he care} for a Harvard diploma. They will all attend college, those a little less competitive {expensive?} and close to home. But, they do this with more than a handful of memories with friends and family in tow; instead of pulling all nighters at the NASA mice lab in order to prove their worthiness to enter the world's most renowned univeristy.
I know that kids come with their own drive, their own personality, their own version of success. But, I'd like to think that I {as my children's mother} have something to do with it as well. I hope to instill the same mentality in our home.
Life is more than textbooks, term papers and letter A's. It's creating moments with which you can share and reminise, laugh and dance and cry and hug with each other {namely our children} for years to come. Hopefully we are beginning that right now. Today. What are your thoughts?
Read the full article here.
I read a little bit of that article too. There was a similar one a month or so ago showcasing teenage girls at an east coast prep school. It's all about balance isn't it. I like his thoughts at the end. I also like your thoughts and hope we are creating that type of atmosphere too. Happy memories, friendships, experiences, etc are so vital to enjoying life.
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