Help?

[stellamira]

You know you research too much when you...

... try to compare NSync's schedule for PopOdyssey and the calendars of high schools across the US, trying to find a date that would make it possible for Dean and Sam to go to an NSync concert

Comments

[stellamira]

he got sorted into a lower grade than the one he'd been in before the move?
You know, I'm trying to remember if I've ever heard of it,

Well, it was a nice theory. What exactly does it mean then, keeping someone back, if it's different from repeating a class? Or is it the same thing?

if you fail a class, they make you go to summer school

That's quite cool, I think. You can't really fail a class here, but you'll have to repeat the whole year if your grades are too bad, they don't give you the chance to repeat only certain subjects. Summer school ruins any plans for vacations, though, and I agree that Dean probably picked the lesser evil.

John would make the boys keep track of that

I always squirm when I read a story where John drags the boys around, regardless of school, because that's not how I see him at all. I even think he wanted his kids to be educated, to a certain extent (which certainly did not include unnecessary stuff like art or musical education).

John kept Dean at home an extra year, before letting him go to school.

Which does make sense, since he was very scared and just figuring out what evil existed in the world and he wanted to keep his children close.

[madame_d]

Keeping someone back, to me, is making someone repeat the entire grade; take the same classes over - usually when a student's grades are crappy or they'd missed too many days of school, for whatever reason. However, if a student passes all but one class, they can make him/her repeat that class in summer school. I actually emailed someone who'd have exact information; I'm waiting for her to weigh in with her opinion. :)

I even think he wanted his kids to be educated, to a certain extent

I agree, though mostly because Sam never would've gotten into Stanford if his school record was that spotty with constant relocations. Sure, John might've dragged the boys on hunts with him when they were in high school, maybe, but I'm sure he was the one to go hunting and leave the boys with Caleb or Pastor Jim and actually stay in the same location for a while.

which certainly did not include unnecessary stuff like art or musical education

In many schools, especially in this generation, educators are finding it important to make kids well-rounded, so art/music classes are actually becoming part of the required curriculum. For example, you need to take English, math, science, language, a social studies class (history or psych or sociology), gym, and one elective, that's either a drama or art class, or maybe a club, like school paper, or yearbook or something similarly non-academic.

Sam's participation in production of Our Town could've been part of his drama class (whose students are usually required to participate in productions) or he could've auditioned.

[stellamira]

I actually emailed someone who'd have exact information

Yay.

I'm sure he was the one to go hunting and leave the boys with Caleb or Pastor Jim

Or on their own. I could be wrong, but I've always had the impression that John didn't let them hunt much anyway, at least not when they were younger. Of course he taught them everything and had them learn how to fight, but more for self-defence? He probably disarmed whatever it was Dean's talking about in Bloodlust himself before he let Dean finish it.

or he could've auditioned

Oh, can you imagine the look on John's face when Sam told him that he actually auditioned for something that takes up extra time instead of being required to do it?

[madame_d]

Oh, can you imagine the look on John's face when Sam told him that he actually auditioned for something that takes up extra time instead of being required to do it?

See, there are certain things that you definitely need to reach for so that they'd make sense. Sam in Stanford being one of them, especially since Stanford is kind of hard to get into. I get that he's smart and probably did well on his standardized tests, but nowadays, grades and tests aren't the main factors - you need to have awesome recommendations, and interesting and involved extracurriculars, and a near-perfect school record, and also, probably an incredibly impressive interview. Which means that not only did Sam need to stay in one place for a while, but also participate in a variety of college-impressive activities to make himself just a worthy contender.

All of which would work if your impression that John taught them everything but in a passive, as opposed to 'hunt for the rest of your lives' kind of way. And, you know, I might buy it because in the pilot, Sam asks with surprise, 'Dad let you go hunting alone?' and Dean's all affronted when he says he's old enough. But it made me think, just now, that maybe it *wasn't* the norm.

[stellamira]

I'm going to keep my mouth shut making assumptions about the US education system now. But it's cool, nobody ever tells you these things. I read a story once where Dean and Sam pretend to go out and practice a lot, but really, Dean drives Sam to his extracurricular activities at school. I found that was a neat solution.

But it made me think, just now, that maybe it *wasn't* the norm.

I really don't know. I mean, there are signs for both. Dean shooting this thing when he was sixteen (I can't remember right now if it was his first), their general experience, Sam's "we grew up like warriors". On the other hand, we've got John leaving the boys in the motel room in Something Wicked, John apparently leaving often and for long enough to pay multiple visits to the Roadhouse without his kids ever noticing, or the fact that they need to look up about half the things they hunt in John's journal.

I guess the main problem might be that we fans think about this a lot more than the actual writers. :)

[madame_d]

I'm going to keep my mouth shut making assumptions about the US education system now.

HAHAHA. It's remarkable how much shit they demand and all the paces they make you go through just to get into college, and how little they teach you for your 40 grand a year for 4 years before releasing you upon the world. :)

I guess the main problem might be that we fans think about this a lot more than the actual writers. :)

I think they're definitely more about 'living in the moment' and crossing the Rubicon once they reach it. ;)