The biggest and culminating
events in most high schools in the U.S. are the commencement ceremony or the national honors society ceremony. On
these days, the auditorium or the outdoor football field is filled with
teachers of senior students, parents, and graduating students with a great big
smile and the sense of achievement on their faces. As students were marching
one by one to the stage to receive their official diploma or the national honor
society badge, all the eyes present in the audience are following each and
every one of the students and become all ears to the principal’s announcement
of which colleges they are attending. In the middle of the ceremony, most
people feel bored, sleepy, and distracted by text messaging on their cell
phones. However, when the principal calls the name of so-called Ivy league
colleges where a student is attending, lot of dozing heads in the audience stand up here and there, with their
eyes wide-awake and start to scan the student from top to bottom looking askance at the kid. It could be a feeling of jealousy, envy,
doubt, admiration, …….or a sense of defeat for one’s child.
Then what does it mean to get admitted into top notch
universities in the States? Would there be a royal road to enter those highly
prestigious colleges? Finishing the undergraduate program at Ivy schools are
the guaranteed tickets to prosperity after graduation? Sets of newly coined
words such as tiger moms, helicopter moms or soccer moms, and
even mower moms – who get rid of
obstacles before their children march ahead (just like a lawnmower cuts off the
long grass) – are telling that quite a lot of parents – especially mothers –
have a high expectation and strong enthusiasm for their children’s education. They
would follow everywhere their children go and do anything possible for their
children’s success in education and career in the future. In most cases, the
children of those education aficionadas
tend to seek after Ivy school’s diploma in accordance with their parents’ characteristic wishes and thoughts that
Harvard or Yale will certainly lead them to a rosy future. However, even if a
kid fails in joining the top tier colleges, it will never be a debacle in his/her life. Their success
in education does not mean a sudden spasm
of excitement at the high school graduation ceremony or a license plate on
which titular pride with “Ivy
league” is engraved.
Without genuine passion for what they do, their future
must be dicey even with Ivy diploma.
It is simply because it is WHAT THEY TRULY ARE that makes them in a league of their own.
Expressions
culminating:
ultimate/ peak
national honors society:
the National Honor Society (NHS) is the nationwide organization established to recognize
outstanding high school students – who are considered higher than an honor
roll- not only with good GPA but also with excellence in the areas of
scholarship, leadership, service, and character.
to doze (off):
to drowse/ to nap
to look askance at…:to
look disapprovingly/ suspiciously at somebody
tiger moms/ helicopter moms/ mower
moms:
(normally referring to Asian mothers) very demanding and strict mothers who
discipline and control their children for the purpose of achieving high level
of academic success and prosperity
aficionado/aficionada:
somebody who has passion/ enthusiasm/ and lots of knowledge about something
characteristic:
typical
debacle:
complete collapse/ failure
spasm of:
a fit of something
titular:
so-called/ name-only (used with somewhat negative connotations)
dicey:
uncertain
in a league of one’s own: the
best/ the one that stands out
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