So, this is clearly the product of procrastination—a promising muse since I am not normally compelled to post my ramblings here. Hm, it may be the music (Shurik’n, album: Ou je vis). Or it may just be that I had wonderful news today! One of my courses this semester is a seminar limited to Plan II (my honors degree in liberal arts) freshman and is called: Disease, Development, and Democracy in Post-Colonial. I am/was pretty excited about the course and reading list looked promising. Today was my 3rd class in and as I (briefly, of course) zoned out, my mind quickly snapped into full consciousness when I heard my prof, Dr. Wilson, say: “I taught this seminar for rising seniors, that is juniors who are going to be seniors and…”. He, of course, was not able to finish his thought because I eagerly (too unenthusiastic an adverb, really) jumped in with “YOU TAUGHT AT TASP??!”
So, these are my good, WONDERFUL, news. It seems I have finally made some connection to the Telluride community despite my distance from Cornell, UMich, or the Ivies. I was really feeling the need to have that connection, something that those not at state schools really take for granted. I navigated last semester easily but not without a certain amount of disappointment. I couldn’t help but compare the experience to what everyone else was living at the schools I wish (wished?) I was at. I am/was happy to be here but still feel/felt the pressure to do the extraordinary to make up for the lack of prestige at my school. This is all coming out in a jumble but I am just so excited to have found out that my professor knows about, much less taught at, TASP. This is even better because he is going to mentor my 15-16 person seminar for the rest of our undergraduate studies. It was a great comfort for someone to understand my situation and take my ambitious goals seriously. Sorry if this is a boring and/or poorly written post. I just wanted to tell you all (hmm, I suppose I should say y’all but no, I’m not that Texan) about this if you were interested. Plus, how often is it that you read a post that manages to incorporate a ludicrous amount of parenthetical statements and ”--/--“ s. (what do you call those?—oh, there I go again). To summarize: I LOVE YOU AND ALL IS WELL!
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9 comments:
I met a guy here who went to 2005 TASP. I found out by overhearing him being accused of being in a 'cult' by two other people in our house ('cult' in this context meaning 'tasp'). He also happened to be wearing a red t-shirt with Nunn's face superimposed on it a la Che Guevara. It was sort of awesome.
You know, I've never even looked at the Telluride House since I've been here. I think it would make me too sad to do it without another TASPer.
I've seen Desiree, but she was doing camera work for a Columbus Day protest, and besides, she always called me "Natasha" anyway. I doubt we'd really reconnect.
And re: feeling like you have to overachieve because you aren't at an Ivy...
There's a myth of opportunity at Ivies that I think needs some serious debunking.
The advantage people gain from an Ivy League institution in their undergraduate years doesn't come from classes or instructors per se, but from networking -- in the frats, at the parties, and in the bars. This is fantastic if your life's goal is to "Get some fuckin' sweet i-banking job," as one Cornellian put it. You get the internship that someone's dad's friend is looking to fill at his company.
This isn't me pulling some cynical assumptions out of my ass -- it's how things work. The only way an Ivy lets you effectively change your class is if you're on the edge of upper class respectability, if you've got the ethos but not the pocketbook, or a convincing enough costume that people start assuming things.
But if you're going to go on to graduate school, I think the advantage disappears. There are sharks who try really hard in all their classes and get good grades, but they tend to be tremendously stupid and the professors know their bullshit is in bad faith. If you're looking for genuine academic opportunities, your path is through a professor whose respect you've earned and who can guide you through undergrad and on to graduate school. They're always looking for people who aren't lost causes or calculating careerists.
You've already started down that path, from what I can tell. And while I can't speak for other Ivies, that makes you ahead of the game for sure when compared to most of the stupid assholes at Cornell.
Leave all those pretentious dipshit factories in your dust.
Thank you Olivia. I needed to read that. I hope that all the assholes at Cornell aren't getting to you too much--there really seems to be an abundance of those everywhere.
And Kim! It's been a long time. It's actually not the first time I've heard a cult accusation. It just means we're exclusive as hell because we can be.
Olivia is a true prophet.
Thanks for reminding me I'm not a failure.
I met a TASPer from WashU, I think. He thought I was kind of weird because I was really excited that he was in TASP. Also, apparently other TASP's weren't as egregious as ours was... Or as cultish and amazing.
Also, one of the kids in my dorm went to school with another TASPer, who I actually met at CBTA weekend.
Finally, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm wearing a very beautiful teal shirt today...
I'm deeply happy it was both cultish and egregious.
Oh my goodness you guys, it's crazy. There is someone (an upperclassman) in my dorm who wore an "Ithaca is gorges" T-shirt and I was seriously on the verge of yelling TASP! out loud a la Dylan. (I likely would have, too, had he been an alumnus.)
One of my greatest struggles at Cornell is the fact that I find the "Vaginas are Gorges" shirts hilarious, but fear that people would think I'm a lesbian if I wore won.
I need to convince a male friend to just wear one around all the time so I can be amused.
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