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 Groton 
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The students in this film (not Jo Vega) seem to think that Groton is the most amazing place on earth and nothing in college will compare. One guy said, "I don't believe college will compare to what I have gained here at Groton".

I think that college is a major stepping stone for most people I have met here at Appalachian. Does anyone here feel like college hasn't "compared" to what they learned in high school?

Also, this movie was filmed some time ago. How do you think things have changed at Groton in the past 10 or 20 years? Do you think the students still feel the same way as the students in this film?

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Amy Harrelson


Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:34 pm
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I have definitely gained much more while being in college than I ever did in high school. Like the students at Groton, I had no idea how much of an impact going to college would have on me. The students filmed from Groton high school probably realized that college does in fact "compare" to their little world at Groton once they completed their first year at a university.

It seems to me that the majority of students at Groton have experienced very little diversity throughout their lives. Unfortunately, they do not know this because they feel like they are travelled and worldly human beings thanks to numerous vacations abroad. However, the only experiences and images of the countries that they probably possess are those of the upscale tourist spots. I think that once they get to college, and especially if they study abroad and experience a home-stay, they will realize how much more is out there and it will change their views on a lot of topics.

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Colleen Ryan


Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:28 am
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Although I wish that the students at Groton would be different now than what we saw in the film I don’t think much has changed over the years. People with a lot of money and family tradition of going to such schools are probably the same. I wish that the students in the film could have been asked about college after they have experienced it first hand and it been apart of the film. I don’t think you actually know what it’s going to be like when you get to college. For me it has been a life changing experience for the better. I understand much more about different cultures and different types of people that I didn’t even know existed in high school. I only wish that the students that attended Groton knew how lucky they were to get that high level of education and use it to better society as a whole. Not just gain power and money and live happily ever after.

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Patrick Watkins


Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:26 pm
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The Groton students were interesting. The teachers tried and tried to preach to the kids that they should strive to help their community and help others. None of the students; however, seemed to consider this a priority. The students wanted money and power. What a different country this would be if our upper echelon of business men and woman practiced the values the Groton teachers TRIED to instill in their students.
I was shocked by the conservation Jo Vega had with the young man about her artwork. He clearly had no experience with diversity and handled the situation in an extremely immature manner. Jo obviously poured herself into that artwork, and the male student shot it down as dumb, annoying, and out of place.
I've had a great college experience, but I don't think Appalachian, or Boone in general, really provides that much in the way of diversity. I don't really remember much of what I learned in high school which shows the lasting impact it has had on me.

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Peter Tarricone


Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:42 pm
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I went to a pretty good public school. I would definitely say that socially, I liked high school better--I mean, I actually got to take electives whereas here I can't afford to, so I had friends with similar interests.
In terms of academics, what bothers me between high school and college is all the repetition that occurs. I feel like most of my gen ed was just doing high school over again, only in high school we had more fun (sometimes in spite of our teachers).

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Rachel Watson
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Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:10 pm
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I always think that it is extremely interesting to hear how different high schools are from one another, even within the same state. One of my greatest friends is from Switzerland and she has talked to me numerous times about her education there compared to her experience at ECU. The way that their school system is set up, you have to take a test to get into high school. The vast majority of the population does not go to high school, they go straight into trade school, etc. It sounds a lot like what some of our "tracks" are here in the US but it seems to be a lot more effective. The principle behind the idea, from what my friend tells me, is that they just face the facts that not everyone is supposed to go into higher education. Now, I know that it is very different between Switzerland and America, especially in size. (Random: Switzerland can fit 2.5x's in just North Carolina) I do think that some people are meant for higher education and some aren't. BUT, I think that as teachers we should push everyone to the higher education "track" while not pressuring them to do something that they don't want to do. No one wants to say it most the time, but in America we do need people to do jobs that people with higher education just won't do. (Mainly, it appears, out of "pride").
I'm not sure where I got off track or now what my intent was in writing all of the above. Basically, along the lines of what Rachel said. High school should be high school and college should be separate and significantly more challenging. (All in my opinion of course, but these things tend to change with more information learned) (Hopefully I didn't ramble to the point of making no sense!)

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Emily.V.Wells


Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:33 am
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i really enjoyed this video. I wish that more schools were like Grotan. I felt like high school did not prepare me at all for college and it seems like these students are more than prepared for college life. I think it is interesting seeing other "high schools" and how different they are.

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Molly K Maness


Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:31 pm
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I definitely think that college has provided me with much more than high school ever did. I recently had to go back to my high school to observe a student for a paper on teenage behavior. The first day I was there, she had an easy project for AP Biology, another easy time-killing project for Spanish 3, an easy exam for Anatomy (it only took like 10 minutes because everyone was given a study guide on what the test would be...aka the test) and then in AP Calculus, she was given a study guide, but the ACC tournament was also turned on. Although my student was very focused and actually did her study guide instead of watching television, I don't understand how she stayed focused. Everyone else was talking and being loud...it was a very difficult environment to stay focused. The second day, she went to first period to finish her project so she wouldn't have homework over the weekend and then she called her mom to leave school because all of her other classes were just going to watch the ACC tournament and she felt she could be more productive with her school work at home. I never recognized this activity when I was there (probably because I was glad for the break from actual work) but when I went back, I couldn't believe how unproductive school actually was. Now, I do believe that most days the teachers to assign normal work and maybe I did catch them on a bad day, but it was still outrageous that a student left school to get more school work done then actually staying at the school.

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Sarah Elizabeth Horne


Thu Mar 19, 2009 11:39 am
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I learned a lot in high school but I have learned more about myself and about interacting with other people in college. I do wonder how Groton has changed, I wonder if the amount of diverse students have changed.

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Jessie Stafford


Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:48 pm
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I think that highschool does contribute to who we are as individuals. But I don't think that those kids realize that college is where you refine who you are and when they get to Harvard and Dartmouth, I think they'll realize that. I'm sure a lot has changed since then, it is probably a lot more diverse than it was then.

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Kathleen Dahl


Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:47 am
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Who knows? They're rich, and want to continue to be that way. So, even if they have or haven't changed when it comes to personality, I'd say that they are still rich and still would like to stay that way.

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Christopher M. McKinney


Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:26 am
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