650 Words

Simone Tift is a member of the great class of 2016 -- the members of which, collectively, have written more posts than any other class on the 650 blog. Since this is a forum for advice, here’s mine: listen to Simone. I have known her for a few years, and she has always impressed me with her genuine and positive approach to learning and life. When someone grounded in happiness like Simone wants to give some modest advice, it seems like a good idea to listen. Simone gears her post towards the college process in particular, but what she talks about here feels like a guide to living a happy and purposeful life. She focuses on our tendency to compare ourselves to others, and I am reminded of the three-part quotation that I always write on the board when my classes study transcendentalism: “You are not who you think you are. You are not who I think you are. You are who you think I think you are” -- the idea being that if you have a fuzzy notion of who you are, you are more likely...

Sammy Rodriguez graduated from high school in 2014. He integrated himself into the school community by playing sports, joining the orchestra, and “going with the flow in classes and in relationships.” Still, he always felt like he was looking at his school experience through a different lens. I know a little about what he is talking about. While I recognize that my kids come from significant privilege, and that privilege is an entirely relative term, Gabe, Jula, and Billy found out right away that many of their classmates came from different worlds. They lived in enormous homes. They went on magnificent vacations. They bought what they wanted at the mall. Again, I don’t mean to suggest that my kids were significantly disadvantaged. They just needed to learn how to conduct themselves in a world of extreme wealth. Sammy writes about how he navigated through that world here. Sammy attended Seattle University, where he received a BS in Sports and Exercise Science last year. He loved th...

This one is hard to read.   Wolf Recht graduated from high school in 2016, an experience he describes as "confusing." When he left for college, things got even more confusing. Wolf attended Cal Poly SLO for two years where he mostly took coursework in Forestry and Landscape Architecture. After dropping out of college due to his difficulty managing a "hazily diagnosed" mental illness (he is quoted), which most closely resembled bipolar disorder, he worked odd jobs like welding, landscaping, and tree care. After a series of run-ins with the law, he began working very intentionally on sobriety starting in October of 2018. Wolf's story is harrowing. He went from a super intellectual kid in my AP Language class to a young man fighting for his life. "My post," he said, "is a brief description of my struggle with mental illness and substance abuse, its possible causes and its tangible consequences." - C.H. Before I begin, I...

Lakme Caceres, who graduated in 2018, was burdened by a pretty serious case of social anxiety while she was in high school. I had her in class for two years, junior and senior, and I never would have guessed that she was struggling. I always assumed that she was just quiet and happy. I’ve opened a few of these intros in this same way, and it occurs to me now that one of a few things is happening. One possibility is that I’m just really bad at picking up on the signs of anxiety, loneliness, depression, etc. This is certainly possible. Another possibility: we don’t give students enough chances to reflect in a classroom setting. Students have all that learning to do. They have to know how to write analytical essays and do impossible math problems and write up lab reports and conjugate verbs in a second language. When is there time for self-reflection? I’m convinced we have to make time. We have to carve out hours, in English classes and other venues, for students like Lakme to be ...

I will not spend much time here introducing my own piece, but I will note that this is the fourth in an ongoing teacher series.  The first three -- written by Rai Wilson , Ginny Robinson , and Ninamarie Ochoa -- were all fabulous. For the first time since August, the 650 cupboard was bare.  I took this as a sign that it was time for me to write something.  It has been a long time since I graduated from high school (1982), so instead I decided to write about Zen birding. - C.H. I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit. In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to Society. But it sometimes happens that I cannot easily shake off the village. The thought of some work will run in my head and I am not where my body is — I am out of my senses. In my walks I would fain return to my senses. What business have I in the woods, if I am thinki...

If you follow the 650 Blog, you know that the last post, written by Molly Lavin (2017), was about how difficult it can be to bear the heavy weight of expectations as you make your way through high school and college. In some ways, this post written by Colin Grey could serve as a companion piece. While Molly focuses on all of the questions, conflicts, and considerations that go into your plans for the future, Colin takes a different approach. Basically, he says the same thing that Paul Dano says to Steve Carell standing at the end of the pier in “Little Miss Sunshine”: “Do what you love and f. the rest.” Here, Colin sounds his unique clarion call for embracing your passion and clinging to it like your life depended upon it.  Just make sure to bring an ice axe and crampons. Colin was in my writing and hiking interim class five years and I can attest to the fact that the dude climbs like a mountain goat. It is hardly a surprise to me that he has made a life and career out...

A chorus of voices out there will tell you to follow your passion. Free yourself from the expectations of others and listen to your heart, follow your bliss, chase your dreams. In many ways, it is good advice. Some of the most compelling 650 blog posts have joined this clarion call for pursuing your passion in life. Molly Lavin, who graduated in 2017 and is in her sophomore year at Brown, doesn’t disagree. But she does recognize that it’s not as easy as it seems to follow your heart. For one, some people don’t have driving passions. For another, it can be hard to know whether or not something qualifies as a passion. (As Stephen Colbert says,  “ Thankfully, dreams can change. If we'd all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. ” ) Then, of course, there is the biggest deterrent of all: the heavy weight of expectations. That’s what Molly writes about here. Molly is making the most of her time at Brown, where she studies Political S...