Final Blogtastic Reflection (#4)

For my final blog reflection for 4th quarter, I chose "Blagojevich on 'Celebrity Apprentice'" as my favorite blog post. The reason I like this one so much is because I feel very strongly about the subject. This usually characterizes my favorite posts. When you're really passionate about what you're writing about, it just makes it a lot more fun to write. And when I saw that Blagojevich was on a reality t.v. show and not in jail, I was just outraged. I was also able to incorporate a bunch of sources in this post, which I think adds depth and more credibility to a post. And from those sources, I used direct quotes and dissected them to prove my point even more. It just had more substance than some of my other posts.
This year I have really developed as a blogger. Not that I blogged before this class, but my style has changed since the beginning of the year. I started my blogging career by mostly writing about certain issues that I encountered in my everyday life, but didn't necessarily connect to class. But as the year continued, my posts started to become extensions of class discussions, which is what I think Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor intended them to be. And when I could not extend the discussion to my blogging, I wrote about prominent issues in the news. Not always, but I tried to.
I have really enjoyed blogging this year because I do like to write, but essays can often times be laborious and they take a long time to do. On the other hand, a blog post doesn't have to be long. You can write a little about a lot, and that's what I've really liked about blogging this year.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

And The Winner Is..... New Trier! Duh.

     Everyday I take my dog out for a walk, and this usually becomes my thinking time. On this particular walk I was thinking about why New Trier wins every sports event, and why the theater program is so amazing and why it pretty much kicks every other school's butts. In everything.
     I came up with what I thought is a reasonable explanation. And this is it: First of all, many people in the North Shore can afford private coaches, travel teams, and club sports. Some kids have had a private coach since they were ten. So if someone has been playing soccer since they were eight, got a private coach and joined a travel team when they were eleven, they're most likely bound to pretty good. Secondly, it's the sheer number of students. There are about 5,000 people who go to New Trier. Let's say that roughly half the school is boys and half the school is girls. So in theory, all boys' teams have the choice between 2,500 boys to put on their team, and same with all the girls' teams. Compared to Highland Park High School which has around 2,000 students, they only have 1,000 boys and girls to choose from for their teams. That is almost half the amount of people to choose from than New Trier. So it's not that many Highland Park residents can't afford private coaches either, it's just that they physically don't have as many people to choose from. So each team at New Trier is literally composed of the best of the best. In the wikipedia article of New Trier, it states that "with more than 120 state championships, New Trier High School currently has more than any other high school in Illinois. Wow.
     The same goes for the theater program. At a very young age, people in the North Shore have the resources and the money to be in plays, to take acting, dancing, and singing lesson, as well as hire an agent. Many people outside of the North Shore are equally as talented, but they won't get the job because they don't have the money to hire an agent, who will make them known in the acting community. Like sports, it's also the sheer number of students interested in theater that makes the program so amazing. New Trier simply has more people to choose from.
     Like I said, this is just a theory. But this conclusion of mine forced me to think about something very important. It goes along with the question of whether money can buy happiness. Can money buy you success? Is there any such thing as being naturally talented these days, or do you have to buy your way to the top?
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2 comments:

  1. DrewNovember 3, 2009 at 7:23 PM

    I agree with you that the resources that new trier and its students have enable it to succeed, but I also think the competitiveness of the district contributes to our success. From a young age, we are taught that we have to win, and that competitive nature stays with us. Whether it pertains to academics, sports, or fine arts, New Trier students do it with the goal to be the best, which is partly why we are so good at being the best.

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  2. SamGotDecember 6, 2009 at 9:06 PM

    I know you wrote this, like a month ago, but I was blog-stalking (good alternative to facebook stalking? haha) and this brought up a memory of mine from XC.

    At one meet me and my friend were going to the sideline to cheer when a young boy came up to us.
    "You're New Trier right?"
    "Um yeah"
    "You guys have like SO many people on your team"
    "Uh huh, we have a big school"
    "Well it's kinda really unfair, don't you think?"
    I ended up giving some blow off answer, but after that I thought to myself, "is that why we're so good?"

    I agree that having more kids to pick on could give us some edge, but I mostly agree with Drew's point of the competitive-ness. Having so many kids whose parents went to New Trier as well the competitive-ness lives through. The kids who really want to play, play. The teams aren't as much for "fun" as for, "let's win"

    But either way I thought I'd share my little encounter with you.

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