The Academy

So, in my group one of the members just wrote about a typical scene in the social life of some academy students. He portrayed them as just sitting around, goofing off and chatting story. This basically showed how social our school is, and how most of the interactions going on during the day are social. Being in The Academy has a lot to do with who your friends are, you basically hang out with them at all times, and mostly stay within your own little clan of friends. This view of The Academy really shows how much we are with are friends during the school day, and that friendship is a very important thing during highschool. Truthfully school is pretty much, for me, basically about my friends and hanging out. Sure, I trudge to classes and dutifully do my homework, but the highlight of my school day is just chilling with my friends, relaxing and getting food from the snackbar. I guess this piece shows that the author really feels that the key to The Academy is the social infrasturcture, and the "cliques" we hang out in.
Another member in my group discussed plants and the Cooke Hall steps. He had a metaphor, which connected the plants and the steps, to the educational process at our school He said that each step was like another level in the learning process, students climbing to the top, slowly making progress. My group member also said that the Hala tree could be a metaphor for the entire school. The students and faculty members are all parts of the tree, the roots, the leaves etc, all coming together to make a strong trunk, a strong community. I think this shows that he was looking at our school as a whole, and he views the school as one entity, working together to benefit one another. This really shows how the author thinks of our school as a large family, and sees us all striving to learn more and reach higher. This piece was a really postive look at The Academy and our school, it really made me think about how blessed we all are to go to such a beautiful and hardworking school.
I actually talked about gossip, and how each clan of friends is eager to hear what is going on with another clan. Everyone wants to stay well connected and to be in the know. We all want to know what is going on with everyone else. I found it interesting how each table, bench and hangout spot is connected to each other, an overlapping of friends. If something important goes on in one group, pretty soon all the other groups know about it. All of The Academy is connected in a complicated web of communication. It was pretty neat to think that we all are in touch with one another, even if it seems like our groups never really mix. In a way I guess it reaffirms the fact that we are all in the school family. I think this observation of the quad and the going ons in the quad really shows how much we love to gossip. Pretty much everyone at our school loves to gossip, and in a way, it brings us all closer together.