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[summertrain]

I hadn't realized how... insulated we were from the rest of Inglemoor until today. I thought I was fairly in touch with non-IB kids, but I guess I wasn't as ingrained as I thought I had been. I know that I've gotten to know more of the school than far more of the other IB kids, but it still isn't enough. While we were going through the senior

Comments

[summertrain]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with everything you said except I do like IB... but I dislike it at the same time. It's definitely a love/hate relationship. You have to wonder about how the program has affected the social grace of IB students, myself included. I too think the IB program fosters "a certain element of elitism". It's a mistake to think that because we're IB students, we're destined for bigger or better things. But perhaps it's natural to think that way, the arrogance of youth manifesting itself into haughty intellectualism. Or maybe we think it because the American Dream has been ingrained in us, the "importance" of success pounded into our heads ever since we were little. And so we'd like to think we're going to make it because we're conditioned to do so, thus breeding that elitism as a false support. Or maybe elitism is borne from insecurity, because all the praise, glory, and immediate gratification goes to the athletic/beautiful/popular kids. So snobbery is a means to give an individual a sense of self-worth, however misguided it is. I guess we'll see, right? I sometimes suspect that we're filled with "hot air", the quality that Biff partially attributes his inability to keep a job in Death of a Salesman. I hope it isn't my downfall but I could see how it could be.

About the sports thing, I agree with that 100%. Being on the cross country and track teams allowed me to get to know a bunch of people I wouldn't have gotten to know. Other things helped connect people, obviously. The music and drama departments enabled people to meet other likeminded types. But you're right when you say people who did sports were the best connected.

[bananip]

I guess that I shouldn't have said that I hate IB, it's more that I consider IB to be flawed to the point that I wonder if it really deserves the praise that it receives. I am thankful for being in IB in certain ways, because Curtis, McQueen, Schondelmeyer and Burrus are hands down, the best teachers I have ever had (I might even include Emery and Rainwater, but I really disliked biology). At the same time though, the elitism that I saw in select members of IB was sickening at times. By no means was this a large portion of the population, but it only takes a select few to ruin the image of whole group.

All in all, I guess the best way to describe my feelings towards IB would be "resentful gratitude". I grudgingly accept that IB fostered my learning greater than other experiences would have, but at the same time there were parts that I could have gone without experiencing.