Lessons learned.

Dear High school,
During my four years of attendance at NSA (A… Hey, my siblings went there ten/twelve years before I did when it was just NSA, okay? I grew up on the three-letter-abbreviation!) people made both light-hearted jokes and serious comments about the practices of the school. For example, my essays usually came back with “Good ideas!” or “good point:, but followed with “work on the structure of the paper”. Which, yeah, I get a little carried away in my ideas and I add my own quirks of personality which are more verbal than literal (see above: beginning of the last sentence, i.e.- “which, yeah”), and sometimes I use punctuation incorrectly to illustrate the sort of thought the sentence is supposed to be. (Keep reading this blog and I’m sure you’ll see my use of run-on sentences- which I very well know are incorrect- to portray something important and on-going. Also note: so many hyphens.) Anyway. Back to the point. I may need to work on the structure of my papers (and I definitely did through high school) but is that really the main point? No. The main point was in the beginning of my teacher’s note: “Good ideas!” or “Good point”.
So, while your open-mindedness and What You Give is What You Get philosophy might not be the best for some people, NSA (…A. Sigh), and while it may not be the best if one wants to go into being totally correct and anal about processes and the natural high school experience, it did what it was supposed to in my mind. It taught me how tolike, think like an intelligent person.
I learned how to debate in a non-professional environment. Which, let’s face it, people in this world don’t always get along. Hardly. Nor do we always keep our different opinions to ourselves. But in arguing the difference philosophical life views sophomore year while reading the graphic novel, Watchmen, I’ve got something way greater under my belt. Because yesterday, I discussed my views on food and different life choices having to do with food with a friend. And we were kind of on opposing teams. But it was cool! Because we both listened to each other and had respectful responses and while we still think differently, we’re also still friends. Or, how about this: last night I talked books with a few new friends and I was able to communicate about Po-Mo (new term I’ve learned in Oly. I feel so smug.) and the Crying of Lot 49. We didn’t talk about how great those writers use their periods (or lack thereof.) or how fantastic the structure of our conversation was. We talked about ideas and influences and inspirations. We talked about Evergreen, and how what we put in is what we’ll eventually come out with. Actually, both you and tis school are totally post-modern. I will discuss his in a future post... Ah. back on track!
So, my tiny art school in Tempe, never feel too bad about the criticisms you get. In a lot of ways- ways that inspire comfort but also nostalgia- Evergreen reminds me of you. It’s very welcoming. The professors I’ve encountered so far are very wise and laid-back. (Think: sage.) People here are passionate, but there are also the few individuals I’ve met who take advantage of this school. This place is becoming my home, slowly; day by day. And it’s a very good place to start calling home, especially after such  tremendous (majorly tremendous!) experiences and such growing took place during my years with you.
So now, I’m going to make some vegetarian sausage before my class in… 39 minutes. I woke up at seven (no, seriously, I did. I don’t even believe it myself) after a really glorious night, ate some raspberry pancakes for breakfast (Dear Mom, see? using my meal plan), and just woke up from a pretty deep nap. I hope your day has been as awesome as mine, NSA…A. Heh.
-Emily.

PS. Just kidding. No sausage. Plan B time.