The school would be modernized and in an urban area where anything goes. Students would be able to venture into the city and do whatever they want, until in-dorm time of course (which would be at ten). There would be no study hall, no Saturday classes, and no homework.
There would be no weekend cards because they waste paper. The common rooms and student center would be accommodated with La-Z-Boy furniture, big screen TV's, and multiple gaming systems. Students would be allowed to have pyrotechnic displays in their rooms and there would never be fire drills. Kids would be allowed to have pets in their dorms and parietals wouldn't exist.
Actually, that is what I expected the responses to sound like. In reality, the answers were far more honest and down to earth. While that depiction was a hyperbolical culmination of some of the more flagrant answers, most of what people said was very thoughtful. As much as I love Proctor, I wrongly assumed that when offered the opportunity to change or complain about the school, many students would harangue me with a list of their woes and wishes; instead many of my peers had a hard time thinking of anything they would want to change, and if they came up with something, the most serious requests were to scrap Saturday classes. And I guess that is what is so special about Proctor, the fact that so many of the students want to be here and are not just trying to get through high school in any way possible.
This article was going to be about the ideal Proctor experience, but I have come to realize that this is that experience. Whether it is the music program, a term abroad, the student-teacher relationships, or the flexibility to pursue one's goals, the only limit in trying new things is the one set by the student. And like myself, whether it is with Ocean Classroom or writing for Student Voices, this is a place where limits are meant to be broken and students learn to leave their comfort zones.
When I came up with this idea of the perfect Proctor experience I thought I might come up with some material that may upset the administration, but as I began to write this piece and listen to the various responses I recorded, I realized that this is the Proctor experience, nothing more or nothing less.
Take a walk around campus one of these spring days and take the time to absorb the sights, sounds, and smells of Proctor Academy; the classes outdoors, the kids playing hacky-sack, or the bros at the brobeque, this is Proctor at its finest.
