Seattle Times: Should Learning Be its Own Reward?

BurnThis
Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:05:37 +0000

Beth,

Ouch. For my son, yes, HYP (really, just Y) is the reward that he’s been working towards. He’s worked his butt off for four years so that he could go to the top school in the nation because he loves learning and wants to be in the most intellectually stimulating environment (for the record, he’s also including St. John’s and Chicago for their ability to fulfill his intellectual needs). He’s taking AP Physics and Advanced Seminar in Math despite not being a math/science person because he loves the challenge – the report I just received from his math teacher talks about his love of math and how he’s one of the top students in the class. My son thinks he sucks at math, but he puts his all into whatever he’s doing. That’s what he brings to his classes – even the classes that aren’t in his technical area of interest he throws himself into with gusto. Yes, I’m a bit defensive about the whole grip thing, but I think kids who work hard and do well should be rewarded and the reward for hard work in high school is getting into your dream college – whatever it may be.