October 2008
opinion
the stentorian I ncssm
Student Life 101 Can Help Students
By Emma Hawkins
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
WELCOME AOMiSSiONS /U^AbEMICS
I love Thursdays. Do you want to know why I love Thursdays? When I
wake up after sweet dreaming, I get up and I do a little dance, because today is
Thursday, Student Life day . Then at 8:40,1 make my way down to Watts 5, say
hello to Mr. Ritchie, and sit down with a grin on my face because I am excited
about Student Life 101.
This is my favorite class. “But this class is pointless,” seems to be the
mantra of some of my fellow juniors. But is it really as useless as they say?
Dave Ritchie, instructor of ^ ^
Student Life 101, states the purpose
of his subject: “There are two main
goals: First, to help juniors to orient
themselves to NCSSM. Secondly, to
help students, as individual people,
become aware of how they treat and
view others, as well as themselves.”
Odd as it may sound, most of
the students here didn’t come from
schools that gave hours of homework
per class. Odder still, is that most
students don’t know how to juggle
the new responsibilities of work,
socializing, and extra-curriculars.
I appreciated the two weeks we
spent on time management, and I still
use my “urgent-important square”
from time to time. Whenever I find
myself with a spare moment. I’ll bust
out my copy of Seven Habits of Highly
Effective Teens and look for ways to
improve my study habits.
Also, as Ritchie says, the class
teaches about life after graduating
school. The world is a constantly
ALUMMI&fAMiUES ATHLETICS EXTERNAL PftO«»AMS VISITORS
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lAt NCSSM. students I
I leam to become
I themselves and value
I the worldviews of
I others. m unison
I cteatirrg a community
I that will impact them for
I years to come,
I Campus activities
■ encompass the entire
high school experience, from sporting events to prom
and from physics club to national music competitions
Our student body is involved, open and driven to make a
difference. Pick any day on campus and youll find
students studying in sunny courtyards, tossing Frisbee
In the roads, planning hall events. woii:ing away in
computer labs, heading up to Nii^th Street or simpfy
cramming for exams No matter wtiat the event or
activity, youll always find students at NCSSM learning
Ail m all. life at NGCSM is chaiacterized by our
student's ability to bookend the greatest academic
experience of their lives with some of the most
personally rewarding social endeavors theyll ever
undertake. Encircled by peers in a place where no one
IS the same, the NCSSM environment produces leaders
and thinkers, the next great "doers" for North Carolina,
changes. What better way to leam about sex, drugs, and something to that effect
than in a laid-back classroom setting with a qualified professional?
On a lighter note, this class gives some stories to tell. I always leave SL 101
with a skip in my step and know that I can provide my own personal commentary
on everything that is said.
My favorite commentaries came from the day we learned about sex
education. The soimd bites that I got from that single fifty-minute period gave
me a week’s worth of Facebook statuses and quotes. Not to mention conversation
starters...and enders. Believe me,
there is no better way to get rid of
somebody than to start reciting
symptoms of various STIs.
However, SL 101 is not simply
fun and games. It’s also a good way
to boost esteem. When I come to SL
101,1 feel smart.
Granted, mostly everything
that you leam in that class is common
sense or “street smarts,” providing
an easy “A”. Now don’t get me
wrong; I’m all about “accepting the
greater challenge,” but in a world
of Physics, AP Psychology, and
American Studies, it’s nice to have a
class where I can sit down and chill.
Of course I’ll answer some
questions and be attentive to what the
teacher is saying, but it’s still nice to
have a class period I can relax in.
However, I feel accomplished
when I walk out the door on
Thursday mornings, realizing that
I’m excelling in at least one class.
rr
^2003 Th* North Cafolinj School of Scionco ar>4
NCSSM’s website describes the student life awspect of NCSSM as “some of the most personally
rewarding social endeavors they 'll ever undertake. ”
I don’t know if it’s completely
changing place, and unfortunately, those changes are not always for the better, healthy that I am excelling in a class that teaches about dmgs and STIs, but I 11
As young people, we should arm ourselves with knowledge to deal with these take my little victories as they come.
Superstudy Proves
Ineffective
By Lanair Lett
“Super Study”, two words that meant nothing to juniors a year ago, and
now has become a phrase we have come to loathe. Super Study is the single worst
part of the NCSSM junior experience.
Don’t get me wrong. NCSSM offers a phenomenal educational opportunity.
But I’m sure that my peers will agree that Super Study is an ill-executed,
unnecessary institution that we could live without.
Super Study is an example of the sometimes excessive attempts at
structuring the NCSSM homework schedule. There are already designated “study
hours” at the same time so what is the purpose of Super Study?
If anything Super Study actually
wastes study time, requiring students
to take time to gather their materials,
walk to their often inconvenient
assigned location, and resettle in a new
environment.
Speaking of location, what
is the point of making students go to a
different study site rather than staying in
their respective building? It seems pretty
odd that juniors in Bryan or Beall end up
having to walk all the way to Hunt for
Super Study, while I, a student who lives
in Hunt, have to go completely across
campus to study in the cafeteria.
Super Study is executed in such
a way that it works against itself, counter
to its purpose. Instead of improving
junior time management and ensuring
that homework gets completed, though, in fact, it does the opposite. Juniors, often
find themselves not getting their work done because of the common excuse “I’ll
just do it in Super Study”. This very popular mindset leads to juniors to holding
off the majority of their work until during and after Super Study, which causes
excessive late nights or, in the worst cases, leaving homework left incomplete.
However, of all these problems the biggest has not yet been addressed—
laptops! For the NCSSM student the laptop is like an additional limb, or brain, and
without it work is all but impossible. Students take notes, write papers, keep track
of assignments, and submit homework, all with the use of their laptops.
The administration argues that there is enough work to be done without
laptops during Super Study, but, if this is true, what would account for the large
portion of students who have nothing to do during Super Study?
Following Super Study, these same students have to go to their rooms
and work well past the 1:00 am lights out cut off to finish a WebAssign, or a paper
when they could have very well done those things during Super Study.
Super Study, in itself, is a good concept, but its execution is flawed and
illogical. Juniors would work much more efficiently in their own rooms, uninhibited
by pointless and needless regulations.
Crossfire: Super Study
Necessary!
Irrational!
Super Study
Provides Structure
By Peter McNeary
The campus living lifestyle is one lifestyle that very few juniors are
accustomed to before coming to NCSSM, but Super Study can help to smooth
the transition from home life to campus life. With events constantly occurring on
campus throughout the day and without parents to set limits, time management at
NCSSM is sometimes a mess.
Super Study provides students with a concrete timeframe around which
to structure their new study habits. Although many students loathe it, the program,
when assessed objectively, has its benefits.
Super Study, aside from the ungodly hours of the morning, is without
issue the quietest time of day for juniors at
NCSSM. The “zero distraction” factor is a
definite plus. Without fnends, hallmates,
or the incessant noise on hall, students get a
chance to plow through work without being
side-tracked.
One of the junior class’s deepest felt
concerns is the ban on laptops. It’s true
that much of the homework assigned at
NCSSM is done by way of laptop, but I feel
that the prohibition of laptops during this
vital hour and a half of study is ultimately a
reasonable precaution.
We all know that if we had
laptops during Super Study we would
be Facebooking, YouTubing, instant
messaging, etc., instead of doing our
work, defeating the point of isolated study
entirely. Really though, not having laptops is not all that bad. There is always
the option of printing out WebAssign, or doing American Studies reading. The
administration also permits music to make schoolwork a bit more palatable, which
in my opinion compensates for not being allowed laptops.
For me, the best part of Super Study is its calming effect on my mood. It
gives me time to mull over my studies in all of my classes free of stress. I absorb a
lot more of what I am learning when I can go at my own pace, without distraction
and without being hurried by teachers.
Curious about other people’s opinions, I conducted an investigation
regarding juniors’ attitudes toward Super Study, the results of which I found quite
surprising. Out of all of the juniors I talked to, about half said that they do like
it, and about half said that they do not. I did not expect so many people to find it
worthwhile. The ones who do not like Super Study reason that it is not a flexible
enough institution. In other words, it does not m^e room for procrastination. I
am sure that of the juniors who do not like it, most do not like homework to begin
with, and their grudge against Super Study is less of a hatred for Super Study itself
than it is a general dislike of homework.
Though it may not be convenient for some, mandatory study periods exist
for a reason. Time management, concentration, scheduling, balance: all of these
are nart of a manageable, orderly life at NCSSM facilitated by Super Study.