<p>Smirkus, I couldn’t agree with you more.</p>
<p>As for JHS, I’m not so naive to think that there isn’t compromise in the real world, or that people do no criticize, discuss or reach consensus. The key difference is that at U of C, the discussion never ends. No matter whether you are discussing things in your academic or personal life, people never reach the point where they step out of theory and into practice. As Smirkus said, it’s almost if they are scared of the real world and hide behind their ideas rather than testing them.</p>
<p>As far as Abbot’s aims of education address, it reminded me why I wanted to come here. But, the gap between how it looks on paper and what it’s like to actually live the life of the mind is enormous. A better way to describe U of C’s motto is “the life of the mind, at the expense of everything else” I always knew I would have to find balance in my life, but I assumed the university environment would be apathetic towards those efforts rather than openly hostile. Is that an unreasonable expectation?</p>
<p>If you are fine with living the life of the mind at the expense of everything else, then U of C is the place for you. But if you have any reservations at all, and think you will try to balance your life over the course of your time here, then run as fast as you can away from this school, because it will be extraordinarily difficult to do so.</p>
<p>Any one is capable of graduating from U of C, but you have to ask yourself, is it worth the high personal toll it will cost you? Remember that as you make your decisions. </p>
<p>As far as tk and his arm chair psychology, I don’t need your approval to graduate in June, so I really don’t care if you think I’m a student or not.</p>