I declined my induction into the Durango High School Academic Hall of Fame because the premises of this award completely disagree with the values it supposedly honors: hard work, character and personal academic achievement.
To accept such an award would not only support the hypocritical practices of the prize-giving institution, but also include me as a member of those who accept, support and even amplify its ethics.
While I confirm the academic work I performed qualified me for this accolade, I believe that an academic “hall of fame” trophy demeans the same hard work it supposedly celebrates.
When administrators and teachers honor a high school graduate’s success with a picture in a hall of fame, they send the wrong message to all students. Prize-bestowing institutions seem to be saying that we should expect unrelated, arbitrary, egocentric and, ultimately, unbeneficial tokens in reward for hard work and achievement.
Work should be rewarded appropriately, but one should be rewarded fittingly – not superficially with an inconsequential emblem of “fame.” I’m not saying I expect a big check for acing differential equations; rather, I believe the award for scholarly achievement should support and encourage scholarly aims.
To honor an academic, appeal to the student’s passion for knowledge, personal growth and intellectual prowess instead of making appeals based on popularity and reputation.
I do not deny that I have worked a great deal to earn high grades. Yet that is exactly what I worked for: My time and effort were spent in acquiring skills and knowledge so as to establish a sufficient foundation for myself and my future. I personally set intentions to learn and prepare myself for further education. Accordingly, I was rewarded with a high school diploma, immense amounts of knowledge and skills, acceptance to my college of choice and a sense of overall personal accomplishment. I put in hard work, and was justly compensated for this work. I did not set my mind to achieve inconsequential social glory. I have no need for any label to know what I’ve achieved.
On the other hand, the public seems to find it necessary to award prizes to academic achievers. Is that a way to turn my learning career into some sort of public performance to be judged? Is education something to be shown-off rather than something for the benefit of one’s own internal, personal attainment?
To me, the nomination says that working hard and achieving academic insight is a sensation – like a blockbuster movie or best-selling novel. I did not work hard to be awarded by those who find pursuing academics to be so dauntingly ambitious. I worked hard to gain aptitude, not a personal reputation.
As a metaphor, I feel like a person who, at the end of a successful diet regimen, receives a plate of doughnuts as a trophy. Because a dieter’s goal is intended solely for himself or herself – just as a scholar’s intentions are completely personal – getting a pile of doughnuts in front of everybody would be a demoralizing experience, even if the prize is meant in the best possible way by those who recognize the accomplishment.
To accept this award would be supporting the widely-held unspoken belief that I have somehow “overachieved,” and that my kind of student is a rarity that must be publicly distinguished. I object to this characterization. I am aware that prizes are awarded on the basis of superiority in a given category, but superior intellectual achievement should not be something to be awe-struck by. It should be something to strive for by all students as an achievable goal.
To perpetuate a tradition of “making famous” hard-working, successful intellectuals, we continue a popularity-dependent pedagogy in which the true, immeasurable benefits of working hard and achieving in education are overshadowed by reputation-based awards.
As students, we all need to find personal reward as the highest, most satisfying kind of accreditation possible – incomparable to any trophy or hall of fame nomination.
Kate Petty, daughter of John and Gina Petty of Durango, graduated from Durango High School in May. She has been accepted by the Honors College at the University of Denver.
