Hampshire College
huntmom1996
This is a funny coincidence, I was at the park with my dd (who's only
7!) and a youg man with his son, about 2, was asking about her. Why
wasn't she in school, etc. He seemed genuinely interested
in "homeschooling" (the term I use wuth strangers), so we ended up
having a short discussion about how I came to this decision. Anyway,
the *What about college* question came up.
I said something like, "oh, it's a long way off, and many children
who don't go to traditional schools still go to college if they want
to, blah, blah"
And he said, "I suppose she could go somewhere like Hamshire College"
LOL.
Jessica (also familiar with the 5 college valley)
7!) and a youg man with his son, about 2, was asking about her. Why
wasn't she in school, etc. He seemed genuinely interested
in "homeschooling" (the term I use wuth strangers), so we ended up
having a short discussion about how I came to this decision. Anyway,
the *What about college* question came up.
I said something like, "oh, it's a long way off, and many children
who don't go to traditional schools still go to college if they want
to, blah, blah"
And he said, "I suppose she could go somewhere like Hamshire College"
LOL.
Jessica (also familiar with the 5 college valley)
[email protected]
In a message dated 11/28/2004 10:59:14 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
I grew up in the area and have always remembered an incident while riding on
one of the 5 College Buses:
A woman was boarding the bus through the rear door and tripped up the steps.
My initial reaction (at 16 or however old I was) was to laugh--that's just
what you did if someone fell at school or dropped their books or
whatever--that's what *everyone* did. Oy.
Anyway, another young woman who had gotten on at Hampshire (very hippy-ish,
"typical" Hampshire student <g>) immediately jumped forward and extended her
hand to the woman, asking, "Are you OK?"
It was such a small act of kindness and it hit me *really* hard--made me
ashamed for my feelings at the time and was such a clear lesson in what to do if
someone is hurt or embarrassed in public. It also made me realize how cruel
my public school peers were and how cruel I had become.
That woman was such a good example to me--I've never forgotten her. I
didn't know that many of the students at Hampshire were homeschooled, and maybe
that young woman wasn't one of them, but it strikes me that that sort of
behavior might be more common among kids who've avoided the dog-eat-dog mentality
of public school.
Anyway, thanks for letting me reminisce.
Betsy S.
***********************************************
It probably didn't have to have anything to do with whether she was
homeschooled or public schooled or whatever.
My experience there was that it was so different from public high school,
and that the people were so happy it was, it led to more sane behavior. Yeah,
there were lots of drugs and some alcohol there (early 80's), but unlike my
friends at UMass or even Amherst College, the students were really into learning
and exploring. Not just "The Next Step on the Path."
One story: after I graduated I volunteered for the Admissions office for a
while doing interviews for students who wanted them or were required to have
them. Most weren't required, but for special circumstances they were.
I got one kid who would have been an easy Yes for most schools. He was top
five in his class, straight A's, jock, Eagle Scout, wanted to do computers.
Hampshire was requiring an interview because they were concerned he wouldn't
be a good fit. They mostly wanted to get a good answer to "Why Hampshire?"
He was this cool kid who talked about his parents meeting at Woodstock and
that while he was very, very good at traditional school he wanted to go to a
place where he could actually learn something about the world and about
himself. He knew that Hampshire wasn't the prestige place for computers but that the
resources were there. He got in, and he loved it.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected] writes:
I grew up in the area and have always remembered an incident while riding on
one of the 5 College Buses:
A woman was boarding the bus through the rear door and tripped up the steps.
My initial reaction (at 16 or however old I was) was to laugh--that's just
what you did if someone fell at school or dropped their books or
whatever--that's what *everyone* did. Oy.
Anyway, another young woman who had gotten on at Hampshire (very hippy-ish,
"typical" Hampshire student <g>) immediately jumped forward and extended her
hand to the woman, asking, "Are you OK?"
It was such a small act of kindness and it hit me *really* hard--made me
ashamed for my feelings at the time and was such a clear lesson in what to do if
someone is hurt or embarrassed in public. It also made me realize how cruel
my public school peers were and how cruel I had become.
That woman was such a good example to me--I've never forgotten her. I
didn't know that many of the students at Hampshire were homeschooled, and maybe
that young woman wasn't one of them, but it strikes me that that sort of
behavior might be more common among kids who've avoided the dog-eat-dog mentality
of public school.
Anyway, thanks for letting me reminisce.
Betsy S.
***********************************************
It probably didn't have to have anything to do with whether she was
homeschooled or public schooled or whatever.
My experience there was that it was so different from public high school,
and that the people were so happy it was, it led to more sane behavior. Yeah,
there were lots of drugs and some alcohol there (early 80's), but unlike my
friends at UMass or even Amherst College, the students were really into learning
and exploring. Not just "The Next Step on the Path."
One story: after I graduated I volunteered for the Admissions office for a
while doing interviews for students who wanted them or were required to have
them. Most weren't required, but for special circumstances they were.
I got one kid who would have been an easy Yes for most schools. He was top
five in his class, straight A's, jock, Eagle Scout, wanted to do computers.
Hampshire was requiring an interview because they were concerned he wouldn't
be a good fit. They mostly wanted to get a good answer to "Why Hampshire?"
He was this cool kid who talked about his parents meeting at Woodstock and
that while he was very, very good at traditional school he wanted to go to a
place where he could actually learn something about the world and about
himself. He knew that Hampshire wasn't the prestige place for computers but that the
resources were there. He got in, and he loved it.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]