The campus is surrounded by houses and offices, in fact it is just off of the highway. I don't like the location, there aren't many places for me to hike or just be with nature. The campus is nice and secluded, at times setting an illusion that it is not only a few hundred yards off of a major highway. They have allowed me to board with some host family. This family is fine, they try to interact with me all of the time, this annoys me. They just don't understand that I can be alone and be perfectly happy. They have a really nice house. Its four stories tall with spacious rooms, most of which go to complete waste. They spend too much money on things they don't need. During the two weeks I have stayed with them, I have yet to see them play their piano which must have costed a fortune. Their child, a rising junior at KO, is the epitome of the prep school student. He stresses too much over grades and going to college. He also dresses the exact same as everyone else here, clean polo and tan shorts with a pair of shoes that are being sold overpriced by about one hundred dollars. The students think I'm strange. I hang out in the library reading while others hang out on the green interacting. At this school I stick out like a sore thumb, but I don't really care.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
McCandless' New Adventure at KO
My parents have recently enrolled me into Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford Connecticut. Despite my excellent grades throughout my schooling career they wanted to "whip me into shape" by sending me to one of these very proper schools in the North East. From what I've heard these schools are pretty famous and get there kids into great schools. I really did not want to go to any of them, I think these kids at these schools are way to fed up with their grades and their social standings to truly live life. I was disgusted by the idea of people paying a fortune of money to attend a school just to prep you for colleges. My parents also thought the cost was a bit absurd, but unfortunately for me I was offered scholarships to all schools I applied to, a bargain my parents wouldn't turn down. Ultimately my stubborn father, Walt, forced me to attend one of them. I chose Kingswood Oxford because it seemed the most relaxed and free out of the others schools.
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Chris McCandles is constantly trying to convince the people he comes across to give up their wasteful lifestyle and begin and more modest existence. It could have been interesting if he said something about an argument or conversation he had with his host family over their life choices. He seemed to be unhappy about being sent to a preparatory school which was perfectly aligned with the way he was portrayed in the book. The only part I found a bit unbelievable was that he would have ever actually agreed to apply to the school because he was a stubborn teenager. Also if he was forced to apply to the school I think he would have spent more time ranting about how his parents are awful people. It would have been like when they tried to get him the car but 5X worse.
ReplyDeleteThe last lines are pretty awesome cause I can picture him doing that.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteEmma brings up some good points about Chris' stubborn resistance to his parents and his eagerness to get others to see how wasteful and meaningless their lives are. You do a good job revealing Chris' disgust for the goals everyone at KO seems to be striving for: good grades, acceptance to a "good" college, and money. Try to reveal even more clearly what he values instead. You show what he scorns, but where does he find meaning/purpose?