half of fark wouldnt get into college based on what i see here.
/2310 is my SAT score
//im going to one of the 3 best liberal arts colleges in the US
///i consider my childhood one long wasteland of exams, with only a few oases, namely Camus and William Gibson

charlesmartel11235: half of fark wouldnt get into college based on what i see here.
/2310 is my SAT score
//im going to one of the 3 best liberal arts colleges in the US
///i consider my childhood one long wasteland of exams, with only a few oases, namely Camus and William Gibson

Actually, FYI, you don't have to be a stress-mongering over-achiever to get into college. I'm told it helps, but let's not exaggerate, here. That would be wrong. And hell, you put all that effort into exams and having shiny grades, et cetera; why the crap would you waste it by going into liberal arts? I mean really.

/Underachieving chem student.

GavinTheAlmighty: I know it's fun to rag on helicopter parents, but it's worth noting that sometimes childhood CAN be stressful. Not living up to parents' expectations, being told in school that if you don't go to university you're going to be a failure at life, being stupider than all of your friends, all while your parents stuff you in 19 extracurriculars because the latest parenting book said that it's important to keep kids busy, dealing with bullies when your parents say to never ever hit anyone under any circumstances, passive-aggressive competition between neighbourhood parents about how awesome their kid is, etc. Then you've got the schools having gone really touchy-feely, it creates an environment where kids are almost encouraged to feel stressed so that they don't overburden themselves (even if it wouldn't be an overburden).

It's not just the parents here. The entire zeitgeist has changed since you were a kid. It's not just about going outside to play until the sun goes down. Hell, most kids in cities can't even go and play around a pond or a creek or on fallen trees or things. Just about every municipal park in cities and suburbs are booked 6 months in advance for every recreational league you can think of. If you're in the suburbs, it's often quite difficult to go to a park unless a parent drives you because of the way the cities are planned. Biking in big cities just flat-out isn't safe unless you've got bike lanes, so it's not like a couple of ten year olds can just pick up bikes and go wherever they want.

Every parent wants their kids to be safe, first and foremost. Unfortunately, given the way that many cities are planned, it's not possible to just let them out without supervision anymore.

Someone needs to call you a Whaaaambulance!

Summer was bittersweet for me as a kid because I grew up on a dairy farm. It was get up, help with chores, do whatever needed to be done, be it baling hay or mending fence.

Then, if there was time, we could do what we wanted on some days. Ride bikes, go to the municipal pool, or just chill.

Had to be back for evening chores at 5:00. But those 2-3 hours doing whatever were glorious. And, come on, no school.

charlesmartel11235, I feel kind of bad for you. That's no way to go through childhood.

Flip side, I never even took the ACT.

/a very happy man

"Summer camp" for adults would might be awesome. Granted, there are some rather critical set-ups that would have to be adjusted (e.g., willingness to moderate one's autonomy as an adult in order to streamline camp functioning, housing and sleeping arrangements, etc.), but the concept still holds a powerful attraction for me...

As someone with a lifelong anxiety disorder (who comes from a long line of anxious folks), I have to say, if there'd been a camp when I was a kid that had therapists on staff and benzodiazepines on tap, I would have benefited tremendously from it. And not because my life was objectively stressful, but because my system is just amped up too highly. Some kids are that way.

Seriously, even a counselor to talk to once a day and some meditation/mindfulness instruction would have helped back then. Hopefully this camp is providing that.

CHARNAME: charlesmartel11235: half of fark wouldnt get into college based on what i see here.
/2310 is my SAT score
//im going to one of the 3 best liberal arts colleges in the US
///i consider my childhood one long wasteland of exams, with only a few oases, namely Camus and William Gibson

Actually, FYI, you don't have to be a stress-mongering over-achiever to get into college. I'm told it helps, but let's not exaggerate, here. That would be wrong. And hell, you put all that effort into exams and having shiny grades, et cetera; why the crap would you waste it by going into liberal arts? I mean really.

/Underachieving chem student.

When I was a kid I would nearly kill myself climbing up and falling down every damn tree in the neighborhood every summer and I still got a 1250 (out of 1600, the old SATs) with a 3.84 GPA. And I Just missed Deans List this year by .02. The trick I learned is "When in school act as if in school, when not who gives".
/Overachieving chem student.

CrankMyBlueSax: New Moon Rabbit: We were herded out of the house each day in the summer and told to "go play - be back before dinner". 99 times out of 100 my mom wouldn't know where I was all day long. And when we got thirsty we drank out of someones hose in their front yard.

Was that you in my childhood? Oh, and FYI Mom always knew where we were. Mom's were sharper back in the day.

When my Mom was ready to find me, she would go outside and yell at the top of her lungs, and unbelievably, being she was a petite 5 foot tall, she could be heard from one end of California to the other.

I'd RUN home when I heard her voice. Especially if she yelled out my full name. She has been dead for 10 years now, but I can still remember the sound of her voice calling me home for dinner.

If you missed dinner, forget eating until the next morning....

wylkyn: Hey, subby, remember when you were a kid and you used to think how awesome it would be when you grew up and could stay up as late as you wanted, and drive a car, and eat ice cream for dinner, and not have anyone to tell you "No!", and drink beer and smoke?

That green grass you're seeing? It's on the other side of the fence, as usual.

I don't know about the grass, but it's really really cool to be an adult and do all that stuff.

I wouldn't be a kid again for anything.

CHARNAME: And hell, you put all that effort into exams and having shiny grades, et cetera; why the crap would you waste it by going into liberal arts?

Maybe he really really likes working at McDonalds.