Rose Poly
G.D.O'Bradovich III
October 28, 2014
“Rose Poly” is my term of endearment for our local institution of higher learning. I use the term for two reasons: Rose Poly was endowed by a fellow Capricorn (and I'm not a believer in giving second handers credit) and I am an amateur historian. Greatness is not a term that is commonly applied to Terre Haute or to things Hauten. However, at least once a year, the airwaves trumpet the news that Rose Poly has been ranked in the top of undergraduate engineering schools for the umpteen year in a row. However, Rose does not award doctorates, so in my mind, Purdue ranks somewhat higher than Rose.
I was reading the requirements to attend Rose, not that I have any desire to attend, but I was curious and I was not disappointed by the freshman profile. The highlights are below with commentary:
Median Class Rank (percentile): Top 7%-Not me
68 ranked in the top three positions of their high school classes (of schools that report rank)-Nope
289 participated in community service-Not me
Over 300 participated in performing arts-No
111 participated on academic teams-No, (Not Offered?)
35 were members of newspaper or yearbook staffs-Not interesting
290 played varsity sports-God, no.
The incoming class has about 500 students, therefore many students participated in multiple activities. This is not surprising since the mediocre do one thing well and Rose Poly students are, if nothing else, exceptional. I did not apply to Rose Poly my senior year. Perhaps after almost two decades in a small town, I was ready to leave it behind, if only for a year, like a well earned vacation from the mediocrity and complacency that are hallmarks of small town America.
The only activity that I did while in high school was during my senior year when I was a basketball manager. I had no interest in any aspect of basketball, either watching or participating, and behavior would only change afer being accepted to Purdue. I only agreed to the position of basketball manager when I learned there were an additional handful of underclass men as managers. In effect, I wouldn't be putting much effort into it. At this point, I didn't know the basic rules of the sport, although our team went to (won?) the sectionals my junior year.
Over the summer of 2014, I read the requirements for the University of Chicago (I can attend, since I don't have a degree) and while I was impressed with their curriculum and coupled with the fact that I'd like to be addressed as “Doctor”, again I have no desire to attend the U of C. I attended Purdue University after graduation. After the academic fiasco that was Purdue, I audited one class at ISU: Etymology: word, form and function. This was a 400 level class with about six people of which two were taking the class for their Masters degree. Needless to say that academic advisers are one of the reasons, but not the only reason, why the school is sometimes described as "I Screwed Up". Although ISU awards doctorates, in my mind Rose Poly ranks higher than ISU. Clearly, there is some justifiable bias in this writer's mind among the various merits of Rose Poly, Purdue and ISU.
Although, I would like to conduct the premieres of my compositions, the idea of studying music does not appeal to me anymore than an interest in word development and origins would mean a lifetime of philological research. At this point in my life, I still do not know what I want concerning a career. It seems that certain people have an easier path when choosing their vocation. My Capricorn mind momentarily covets their facile choice.
Gentle Reader, we return to the present day and only now can we understand that, if left to my own devices, I doubt if I would have come to the foregone conclusion that I should attend a university. Clearly, this career path works for many people, but I wonder if I wouldn't have found satisfying work in a trade or retail instead of academia. I believe that some people with good intentions have mistakenly correlated my high IQ with college attendance and the inevitable success that would follow. Alas, they are not to suffer for their mistaken conclusions, and besides, Gentle Reader, we should not be too harsh in our criticisms, after all, not many people encounter a Renaissance man and fewer people expect to meet the Greatest Occultist of the Twenty First Century.
I was reading the requirements to attend Rose, not that I have any desire to attend, but I was curious and I was not disappointed by the freshman profile. The highlights are below with commentary:
Median Class Rank (percentile): Top 7%-Not me
68 ranked in the top three positions of their high school classes (of schools that report rank)-Nope
289 participated in community service-Not me
Over 300 participated in performing arts-No
111 participated on academic teams-No, (Not Offered?)
35 were members of newspaper or yearbook staffs-Not interesting
290 played varsity sports-God, no.
The incoming class has about 500 students, therefore many students participated in multiple activities. This is not surprising since the mediocre do one thing well and Rose Poly students are, if nothing else, exceptional. I did not apply to Rose Poly my senior year. Perhaps after almost two decades in a small town, I was ready to leave it behind, if only for a year, like a well earned vacation from the mediocrity and complacency that are hallmarks of small town America.
The only activity that I did while in high school was during my senior year when I was a basketball manager. I had no interest in any aspect of basketball, either watching or participating, and behavior would only change afer being accepted to Purdue. I only agreed to the position of basketball manager when I learned there were an additional handful of underclass men as managers. In effect, I wouldn't be putting much effort into it. At this point, I didn't know the basic rules of the sport, although our team went to (won?) the sectionals my junior year.
Over the summer of 2014, I read the requirements for the University of Chicago (I can attend, since I don't have a degree) and while I was impressed with their curriculum and coupled with the fact that I'd like to be addressed as “Doctor”, again I have no desire to attend the U of C. I attended Purdue University after graduation. After the academic fiasco that was Purdue, I audited one class at ISU: Etymology: word, form and function. This was a 400 level class with about six people of which two were taking the class for their Masters degree. Needless to say that academic advisers are one of the reasons, but not the only reason, why the school is sometimes described as "I Screwed Up". Although ISU awards doctorates, in my mind Rose Poly ranks higher than ISU. Clearly, there is some justifiable bias in this writer's mind among the various merits of Rose Poly, Purdue and ISU.
Although, I would like to conduct the premieres of my compositions, the idea of studying music does not appeal to me anymore than an interest in word development and origins would mean a lifetime of philological research. At this point in my life, I still do not know what I want concerning a career. It seems that certain people have an easier path when choosing their vocation. My Capricorn mind momentarily covets their facile choice.
Gentle Reader, we return to the present day and only now can we understand that, if left to my own devices, I doubt if I would have come to the foregone conclusion that I should attend a university. Clearly, this career path works for many people, but I wonder if I wouldn't have found satisfying work in a trade or retail instead of academia. I believe that some people with good intentions have mistakenly correlated my high IQ with college attendance and the inevitable success that would follow. Alas, they are not to suffer for their mistaken conclusions, and besides, Gentle Reader, we should not be too harsh in our criticisms, after all, not many people encounter a Renaissance man and fewer people expect to meet the Greatest Occultist of the Twenty First Century.