Page 24 - 1983 VES Meteor

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THE METEOR
From
Editor's
ByJ.Davld
Every year, people say the same things about graduation: Graduation is a time of promise, they say. It is a rite of passage, marking seniors' passing from adolescence with their families to
adulthood and independence. It is a celebration of growing up. Graduation is also a time of decision-making. For many, it will be the beginning of a life of their own, made by their own
thinking and their own decisions. Then there are things that people sometimes don't say at graduation - for instance, that
graduation is also a little scary. Because with independence and the ability to make decisions, comes responsibility. We have to decide what we really want,
what is important to us. We have to make cnoices based on those decisions and live with their consequences. The more
responsibility each of us is given at graduation, the bigger and probably scarier the decisions we will have to make afterward.
All of this is true in a general way. But is also true in one specific, immediate way. All men
are required to register for the draft within 30 days of their 18th birthday. All men turning 18 - many of them high school seniors - must think about what regis·
tration for a draft means, and make their decisions accordingly. The Selective Service System knows that 18th birthdays, like graduation, are a celebration of growing up and taking on respon·
sibility. So their recent adver· tisement for registration reads, "Aaron, Mike, William and Paul grew up today. They registered."
The message is clear: you become a man by doing what is required of you and registering
for the draft. Period. No ques- tions asked. However, a truer
ing killing. Or they may oppose any war which the United States could conceivably be involved in, such as the wars in the Third World. These young people con- sider themselves conscientious objectors (COs), and may apply for official CO status from the
government if there is a draft. Many of these war objectors are women, because Congress could pass a law at any time extend- ing the draft to women.
Some people of registration age, after thinking out their feelings about war, decide that they are COs and register, writing, "I am a conscientious objector to war in any form" on their registration form - though this does not guarantee them CO status. Others, deciding they are COs, feel they cannot
participate in any preparation for war and thus cannot register for the draft, though this means
breaking the law.
Others of registration age will
decide they feel war is justifiable
and will register. But they, too, will have thought it through and made their own decision.
Graduation - from either high school or college - poses other questions that are both promis-
ing and a little scary. Probably the biggest is work: How can I
find a job?
Here, too, the military offers
easy answers. Now, when unem- ployment is at its highest since World War II, many young men and women, desperate for a job, turn to the military as their last
chance. The military's offer sounds attractive, too, since the Pentagon spends $500 million a
year on recruiting and advertis· m• g.
But, whatever the recruiters and advertising may say, the military is not a jobs program or college with pay. Two recent Congressional students showed
that more than half of the people in the military felt their recruiter misrepresented military life to them. And over three quarters said that if they had known the truth, they wouldn't have joined. After all, once you're in the military, it's not like any other
job. You can't just quit. Continued pace 4
There have been many queetions concerning students and whether they are getting the education they deserve and need in order to be successful. I have grown up in public and private schools and the
la~ter is, by far, the superior. I have learned a great deal more in pnvate school than in public. Enrolling in Virginia Episcopal School
was the best thing that I could have done.
In an institution such as VES, the student is subjected to a number of responsibilities which range from athletics to academics to social endeavors. Coming here in the tenth grade, I learned what was to be
done, and it was left up to me as to whether it would get done or not. If a paper or test was late, I had to understand that my grade would suffer. In the classroom I had to continuously be alert to the fact that the teache~ was trying to give me the best education possible.
In a public school there were few responsibilities. You could easily get away with turning in a late paper because the teacher didn't expect any be~ter from you. You didn't have to worry about doing
much of anyt~mg b~use all you. cared about was passing. I spent
much more lime playmg around mstead of learning. An education seemed almost secondary to having a good time.
A private school produces a much better atmosphere for learning bec~use ~ost of the people are honest about their work. Virginia Epsico~aiiS held ~ogether by a very strict honor code which provides
t_he basic foundation for the school. It simply states that, "I will not lie, cheat, or steal nor will I tolerate those who do." Honesty is the key to each student's success at a private school and I believe quite strongly in upholding the honor of the school. I have had plenty of
opportunities to be dishonest at VES, but I soon discovered a
personal sense of pride in knowing I'm a better person than one who
would, for instance, take an item from someone's room or look at someone else's test answers.
.. I can't ~~mem~r the countless times that I was either a part of
ex~cted cheatmg or tha~I saw someone cheat in public school. By
cheat~g, I was only hurtmg myself and depriving myself of the educati!)n that I needed.
The teachers in private schools are much better prepared than
~hose in ~he public schools I attended. Each seems to take a personal mterest m your work and they work very hard on preparing you for college. I have been very fortunate to have had such teachers; they have taught me how to reason and understand ideas much more
clearly. At VES, I have noticed how devoted the teachers are to their
work and they all work very hard to that you get the knowledge
that you need. At an institution such as this one, the faculty are more than teachers, they are your friends.
I can only describe my public school teachers as pre-school ~rvers who spent their day watching young adults play and cut up m class. My teachers had no drive to teach us because we were not
willing to give them a chance. There waa little or no relationship between them and thus, you could do anything you wanted. They did
DOt even care: During c!a", we would yell and play g•m