the fundamental difference...
between going to a private school and public school is that at a public school they don't care if you are there or not (my undergraduate school never once took attendance the whole 4 years). You have to passionately want it. What little equipment you have you must cherish because if you only have one and it breaks there is no money to replace it. You all work 2-3 jobs because you have to, and no one even thinks about buying the newest powerbook or ipod because we just could never afford that. And drugs? TNOs? Forget about it, You can barely afford to eat let alone buy a drink.
How embarassing is it to say to someone, "Sorry I can't go out, I can barely afford food. drinking or a cover charge? no." I spent a lot of Friday nights at my friends apartments swapping books or giving eachother 'makeovers' because there wasn't money to do anything else, and yet we had the time of our lives.
Private schools are different in unspoken ways, you have an abundance of equipment, almost everyone has the newest 'stuff' and you are catered too, because if you don't show up, they don't get paid. I'm finding at private schools 'job' is a four letter word. No one understand why you need a job, when I reply "to eat" they look at me like I should have a trust fund or a rich uncle for that. Sorry I don't, (ok, so I do have a really rich uncle but I'm not going to see one cent of that).
No one speaks about money or ask about money or how we are all paying for this (4 loans and counting for me) because well, that would just make things too uncomfortable? I'm not sure, I wish I understood why we omit a huge part of this reality and ignore it.
The passion of the students is similar; but the passion here is different in a way I can't put my finger on. Perhaps the motivation to succeed is very different? When I was at public school the motivation to succeed meant we got to eat or rent a movie and here the motivation to succeed is a ski trip to Europe or a new pair of designer jeans.
Don't get me wrong, I like this program a lot , but can I see myself living in New York for one minute passed graduation? Never.
I believe at my core that following money or a job title does not change your life for the better, I believe at my core following your heart does.
I don't think people in this city get my type of personality, and that's fine. I don't get theirs either and for the next 1.5 years we have to be ok with not understanding eachother, just keep walking by and smiling.