By: Trip M. ’17

Hello everyone! It is my job to discuss the idea of scholarship and it is out my sense of duty to the school, and not Ms. Crig’s Taser that she carries, that I have the pleasure of writing for you today. In preparing this article, the big quandary that I was faced with (apart from vague Taser threats, of course) was what is scholarship? And I think the issue is that the term scholarship is grotesquely and incorrectly defined in the sense that it is too often coupled with someone being smart. Even intelligence in this day and age is misinterpreted. If someone does well on a math test does that immediately make them smart? Is intellect that one-dimensional? Well, the math test may win you a hug from Justin Almeida, but can school assessments validate or invalidate someone as a scholar? Why was one of the world’s most famous geniuses, Albert Einstein, a sub-par student? (I am so sorry, I had to put at least one golf reference in.) So, what is it then that defines the scholar?

In order to attempt to explain this idea of scholarship, let me tell you a story. The year is 2006; I am a bold and inquisitive six-year-old. My mother, sister, and grandparents are on a vacation in Rome. Our destination is the Vatican and I have the odd misconception that the pope will be waiting there for us. Well, before we can meet his exaltedness, we have to actually get there. The whole family piles onto a city bus that we just assume is going to the Vatican. And let me tell you, I am killing the style game as always, donning a mustard yellow shirt, dark mesh shorts, and socks with sandals. And to top it all off, a jean-blue Fannie pack. I know. I am basically the younger incarnation of an elderly woman named Bertha. So, Bertha and the family squeeze onto an overcrowded bus with commuters, gypsies, and many other tourists. Looking back at it, we are probably the most shameless tourists that Rome has ever seen. But back to the bus. It seems that every stop takes at least 15-20 minutes, and with the patience of a six-year-old, this city bus basically becomes a torture chamber. After about two hours, we decide to hop off the horrid bus, and look up to see a wonderfully tall and impressive building: but it happened to be our hotel. Yep. I spent two hours in a crammed bus doing nothing with half of the family being robbed by the time we got off, and in the end, we are exactly where we started. But what does this mean? How is it relevant? Well, perhaps that’s just what scholarship is.

Scholarship is not about the result you achieve; it’s about the journey and the approach. Academic excellence ought to be measured in one’s diligence and attitude, not the result. So, if you take a Platis’ test and you don’t get the result you wanted, but you know that you gave your all, everything you had…that is scholarship. If you wanted to know the end to my story, my most beloved bus ride did not actually prove to be in vain. The next day, we oversaw a ceremony in which the pope did make an appearance, and now that I look back, perhaps my exasperating experience only strengthened the bond between my family and me. Similarly, the academic journey of the scholar, although not always successful, will build from past experience, until habitually sound academic practice becomes academic excellence! But it all has to start somewhere. And that somewhere is the determined mindset and educational insatiability that embodies the heart of a true scholar.