It seems I was not very well-liked. My counselor, Gwen, wanted to put a firecracker under me? Uh, it was summer, Gwen. And July and August were supposed to be a fun and happy vacation. I can now understand why I was so depressed. I was not there to "help," and if I was "listless" why was it not addressed instead of being used as a point for criticism. If I was not "working hard" perhaps I was not motivated. I was surrounded by adults who were not great promoters of self-esteem. I can see now that what was acceptable from adults so many years ago would today be looked at with a jaundiced eye and not allowed.
Dr. Phil, can you weigh in here please?
Maybe it was the bermuda shorts? Ya think?
3 comments:
I am loving this, thank you, thank you, thank you. I will find pictures in the attic of the school (Ihope) and post them in the not too distant future.
Laurie
Laurie, can you please send me an E-mail address where I can contact you off this blog? Did I know you at SOCA? Did you see my entry:
"SOCA, 1961-1962?"
Damn, that report card's mean-spirited, nit picking, esteem extinguishing comments make me angry and remind me of similar comments I got as a kid. ugh.
Your interest in art "remains unchanged"? What the hell does that mean?
And "this is not her main interest"? Was this a requirement to have a "main interest" and were you given points on something being "main" or secondary?
You work hard in class but are not giving enough of yourself? Say wha? You "showed more determination and cooperation" than ever but "needs much more work". Really, the comments don't make sense. It's like they felt obliged to be negative in order to keep you there to drum up interest, like you were a human being who needed to be whipped into shape to have fun being creative. unnnggg.
Did these people take a course on passive-aggressive put downs or what? It sounds like they were looking for Stepford children, Sound of Music little Julie Andrews' clones. Or that without parents spending their money on this place your summer would be wasted by you having fun.
Between the lines it sounds like you were a well behaved, well-intentioned, focused,talented, hard-working kid, who enjoyed drama class at summer camp.
Good thing you were able to keep your creative and feisty spirit in spite of their wet-blanketing.
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