How is anyone supposed to compare with my amazing sister? I am not jealous or anything, but I will admit that it is really difficult being as awesome as her. I mean seriously- she is gorgeous, intelligent, caring, and fun all at the same time! And I don't just mean smart, I mean gifted! This kid is way smarter than I am. So she actually transferred to a more challenging school this year. And she has been entertaining me daily about how "weird," gifted kids are.She is unique because she is a "regular," kid who happens to be gifted. She is not a kid who was brought up in a gifted environment her entire life, so she can see how warped the status quo is in her school is. What we are all mainly used to, and even what the media generally portrays is that the popular students are mainly concerned with fashion and reputation, while the bullied kids were the ones who were interested in school and video games and dressed generally out of fashion. Well in her school, the most intelligent kids with the best grades are also the most popular. It is a middle school world I cannot imagine.
This post is mainly from one random night when she was telling me about her school students, and the stuff she was saying was so golden that I had to write it all down.
Our conversation started with her telling me that "my school's got problems." Her school is divided between the gifted "decent [looking] people who tuck in her shirts, and the rest who look at us and walk away." According to her, the school that she is attending actually was performing terribly, so to attract more students, they added an academy portion where some students could transfer to the school to take more challenging courses. The academy students and the rest of the students are still required to take classes together because the academy students were deemed very antisocial. Clearly, the attempt at social mixing has led to some interesting issues in her school.
One unintended result, according to her is that "all the people in my geometry class think they've got 'swag.'" According to my sister, these students not only think they are "gangsta," they also "think they're cool because the teachers know them." These try having "swag," to fit in with other students not from the academy, and they fit in with students from the academy by being cool with the teachers. Apparently, it is common to brag and say, "oh yea, all the teachers know me, I'm so cool." Umm- I think she has got a point about her school having problems. Maybe in college, you can pass for cool if you are known by teachers and principals, but definitely not in middle school. It is like a warped society where the nerdy kids are the popular "plastics," who rule the school, and who think they are very cool.
She is of course inspired by the school system where good grades are encouraged, however, she made a good point saying, "I can't imagine how they'll survive [when they enter high school]." And being the funny kid she is, she mentions, "Good thing they are going together to the same high school, so they can comfort each other [when they are getting bullied]."
A funny topic she mentioned that was fascinating was that her assistant principal is an anglo "old man in his 40s , who is chubby with a long beard," who uses "rap songs in casual conversations." Recently, he reprimanded a student out of his seat by announcing on the mic "park it like its hot."
Another thing she mentioned that I thought was pretty cool is that the students with hijabs (headscarves) seem to have the coolest fashion sense in her school.
One last thing that she mentioned that I could not stop laughing about was when her teacher played a parody about what cool kids are. In the parody, the cool kids were nerds with secret hand shakes, who were obsessed with video games and who dressed in khaki pants and tucked in shirts. At the end of the video, the majority of the students in her class did not realize that the video was a parody, and were very confused. "Nuff said!"
As a final comment, I would like to point out that I actually think that this environment she is in is pretty cool where students value education, and they wear what they desire to wear, and they make that become fashion in their schools. I mean, I do find it odd that the most intelligent students show off about their grades in class, and they are encouraged to do so by other students and teachers, but I also think it is a an admirable and rare environment where education is valued. I like however, that my sister is capable of fitting in in this interesting environment, and also in a regular school where fashion and media are more valued. She keeps up with Teen Vogue, is the best hair stylist I know, has a great sense of fashion, knows her actors, and the news, and at the same time, is very hardworking when it comes to school work! I'm so so proud of her! :D
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