teen scheme
Throughout my childhood, I moved twice. I grew up in Kansas, and my first move was to Elk Ridge, Utah (about 30 minutes south of Provo) when I was almost eleven. It was exciting, and I really loved moving.
The next time we moved was to Orem, Utah, when I was fourteen. Since we knew we were moving up there, my brother and I just commuted to Orem schools for the first half of the year until we actually moved into our house in January 2007. My brother went to Orem High School, and I went to Lakeridge Middle School. Again, I really liked the change that came with moving--making new friends, decorating a new room, being closer to things . . . those were all good things.
However, it's not a change I would want to make every single year. You see, Lakeridge Middle School fed into Orem High School and Mountain View High School, and the split was about 10%/90%. I was in the boundaries that were supposed to go to Orem High School, but most of my new friends would be going to Mountain View in the next year. This was simply not okay.
I asked my parents if I could go to Mountain View instead, but they weren't sold on the idea. So I devised a 3-tier plan.
First: I had all of my friends sign a piece of paper. There was one column for friends who would be going to Orem High the next year, and one column for friends who would be going to Mountain View. Score? six to twenty-six. And that's even with crossing a few names off of the Mountain View list, because some people signed it who I didn't really feel like I was friends with.
Second: I went to all of my teachers and asked them which school they thought had a better program or better teachers for their specific subjects. I then had the teachers sign their names by their preferred schools. Six out of seven teachers surveyed answered Mountain View, with the seventh saying the two schools were equal.
Third: I had a few of my closest friends write letters to my parents asking them to let me go to MV. They're pretty funny, so here's what they had to say (with only a few minor edits, since I am, after all, an editor):
I consider Ashley one of my very best friends. I would feel very sad to lose such a good friend. She was a very big part of our group and I would feel a big piece missing. I would like you to consider that mainly I and all our friends will be going to Mountain View. I had a friend who went to Orem high in their sophomore year and transferred to MV and they said not just the people but the teachers and atmosphere felt better. I understand I don't completely understand all your reasoning for having Ashley go to Orem High, but being such a good friend she is I urge you to look into letting her come to MV with me and all of our other friends.
Sincerely, Spencer Bailey
P.S. Ashley Rocks, MV rocks, I'd say they're perfect for each other.
I do understand that being a parent, you are concerned about your daughter and if she goes to a different school it would be harder to get to her. But do you realize how many children commit suicide because of depression problems? Neither do I, but I know there is a lot. And did you know that teenagers who are lonely in high school are more prone to do drugs or get into the wrong crowd? I know that you love Ashley beyond my understanding, but WE LOVE HER TOO! Being a Navy brat, I know what it is like to move from school to school and lose friends, but that was moving from state to state, not living in the same city and switching schools. I promise on my life we will take good care of Ashley. They say high school is the most fun part in your life, but without friends, it may suck really bad. PLEASE LET ASHLEY GO TO MOUNTAIN VIEW!
Marcela
I want to take this opportunity to ask with all my heart that you allow Ashley to go to Mountain View High School. She is one of my very close friends and high school wouldn't be the best it could be without her. She is a very intelligent girl and Mountain View would be great for her intelligence and so she can keep all of the wonderful friends she has already made. For me, making new friends was really hard when I moved right before 7th grade. So to make Ashley as happy as you possibly can, please let her attend Mountain View High School! Thank you for reading this letter and I hope to see Ashley at Mountain View!
Thank you, Ashlee Snow
In the end, they did let me go to Mountain View, mostly because of MV's math program. And I'm so glad they did, because I got to spend all three years on Dance Company, which I loved, and it was through high school and Dance Company that Ashlee and I became best friends and ended up living together during our first two years of college before I got married.
I don't know how things would have ended up if I had gone to Orem High, but I'm really glad I got to go to MV :) And I'm also really grateful for all my good friends who helped me get there by supporting and participating in my plan! :)
What lengths have you gone to in order to convince parents (or anyone) to let you do something? :)
The next time we moved was to Orem, Utah, when I was fourteen. Since we knew we were moving up there, my brother and I just commuted to Orem schools for the first half of the year until we actually moved into our house in January 2007. My brother went to Orem High School, and I went to Lakeridge Middle School. Again, I really liked the change that came with moving--making new friends, decorating a new room, being closer to things . . . those were all good things.
However, it's not a change I would want to make every single year. You see, Lakeridge Middle School fed into Orem High School and Mountain View High School, and the split was about 10%/90%. I was in the boundaries that were supposed to go to Orem High School, but most of my new friends would be going to Mountain View in the next year. This was simply not okay.
I asked my parents if I could go to Mountain View instead, but they weren't sold on the idea. So I devised a 3-tier plan.
First: I had all of my friends sign a piece of paper. There was one column for friends who would be going to Orem High the next year, and one column for friends who would be going to Mountain View. Score? six to twenty-six. And that's even with crossing a few names off of the Mountain View list, because some people signed it who I didn't really feel like I was friends with.
Second: I went to all of my teachers and asked them which school they thought had a better program or better teachers for their specific subjects. I then had the teachers sign their names by their preferred schools. Six out of seven teachers surveyed answered Mountain View, with the seventh saying the two schools were equal.
Third: I had a few of my closest friends write letters to my parents asking them to let me go to MV. They're pretty funny, so here's what they had to say (with only a few minor edits, since I am, after all, an editor):
I consider Ashley one of my very best friends. I would feel very sad to lose such a good friend. She was a very big part of our group and I would feel a big piece missing. I would like you to consider that mainly I and all our friends will be going to Mountain View. I had a friend who went to Orem high in their sophomore year and transferred to MV and they said not just the people but the teachers and atmosphere felt better. I understand I don't completely understand all your reasoning for having Ashley go to Orem High, but being such a good friend she is I urge you to look into letting her come to MV with me and all of our other friends.
Sincerely, Spencer Bailey
P.S. Ashley Rocks, MV rocks, I'd say they're perfect for each other.
I do understand that being a parent, you are concerned about your daughter and if she goes to a different school it would be harder to get to her. But do you realize how many children commit suicide because of depression problems? Neither do I, but I know there is a lot. And did you know that teenagers who are lonely in high school are more prone to do drugs or get into the wrong crowd? I know that you love Ashley beyond my understanding, but WE LOVE HER TOO! Being a Navy brat, I know what it is like to move from school to school and lose friends, but that was moving from state to state, not living in the same city and switching schools. I promise on my life we will take good care of Ashley. They say high school is the most fun part in your life, but without friends, it may suck really bad. PLEASE LET ASHLEY GO TO MOUNTAIN VIEW!
Marcela
I want to take this opportunity to ask with all my heart that you allow Ashley to go to Mountain View High School. She is one of my very close friends and high school wouldn't be the best it could be without her. She is a very intelligent girl and Mountain View would be great for her intelligence and so she can keep all of the wonderful friends she has already made. For me, making new friends was really hard when I moved right before 7th grade. So to make Ashley as happy as you possibly can, please let her attend Mountain View High School! Thank you for reading this letter and I hope to see Ashley at Mountain View!
Thank you, Ashlee Snow
In the end, they did let me go to Mountain View, mostly because of MV's math program. And I'm so glad they did, because I got to spend all three years on Dance Company, which I loved, and it was through high school and Dance Company that Ashlee and I became best friends and ended up living together during our first two years of college before I got married.
I don't know how things would have ended up if I had gone to Orem High, but I'm really glad I got to go to MV :) And I'm also really grateful for all my good friends who helped me get there by supporting and participating in my plan! :)
What lengths have you gone to in order to convince parents (or anyone) to let you do something? :)
haha, this is too funny. when I was really young I hated piano lessons, so once I made a powerpoint to try to convince my parents to let me quit. it didn't work!
ReplyDeleteHaha nice! Too bad it didn't work . . . but are you an amazing pianist now and so grateful? ;)
DeleteMy best friend in 5th grade was a competitive swimmer and shaved her legs; I was jealous and needed to convince Mom that I could shave my legs before the family's appointed age. I told her my leg hairs were so long that they curled over and tickled my leg, making me feel like I had spiders and bugs all over my legs. I thought it was such a brilliant argument! She did let me start shaving--but ONLY with an electric razor from Grandma that she got at a garage sale, meaning it DIDN"T WORK!!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha I love this story. So illogical ;) Did Mom actually believe that your leg hairs were doing that? haha :)
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