05/16/2016
Attention Rivers Academy Alumni: please take a moment and check out the latest alumni update and personal message from Q Staley!
I attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD); it’s like the Harvard of art school. Except unlike Harvard, preppy clothing, Greek life, spectator sports, and cold weather don’t exist.
“We’re an art school near the beach,” begins every SCAD recruitment tour. For most new recruits the tour ends there–enough said! Yet, SCAD offers much more than a Florida suntan. I chose SCAD to chase a rewarding career, and without compromising my high school investments in tennis.
As much as I enjoyed my math and science classes at Rivers Academy, I couldn't bring myself to attend a state university and take another two years of gratuitous core-subjects. So I chose SCAD where the curriculum complemented my interests from day one. I replaced math with drawing and science with color theory. After just two-quarters of these drawing and design prerequisites, I could set forth towards my major classes in motion graphics–and as a freshman, no less. Alas, I found a college with the same no-nonsense mentality I loved about Rivers Academy.
Students seek Rivers Academy because they pursue a passion that would suffer anywhere else. And I distinctly remember my struggle of “anywhere else” that led me to Rivers.
Just four years ago I planned to balance tennis with traditional, public school. I theorized a formula for public school success: study until early afternoon–guaranteeing a shorter school day with online classes–and then play tennis until bed. I so romantically entrusted this formula with my happiness. Little did I realize the flaw in the formulaic expression I devised. Public School + Tennis = :(
So in the middle of my sophomore year, I transferred from North Springs Charter High School to Rivers Academy, and bye-bye went my fruitless P.E., A.P., and computer programming classes that only leeched life from me and my passion for tennis. With one-half days and three-day weeks, Rivers Academy answered my questions, and enrolling then made as much sense as enrolling at SCAD later; it was a slam dunk!
For me, college hardly differs from high school. Of course, this depends on the college–and the high school–but my high school skills meet all the demands of higher education. University requires the same abilities to juggle academic, athletic, and social, and in my opinion, nothing teaches this juggling act better than Rivers Academy. Just like Rivers, college classes only consume fractional parts of the week. It’s up to the student to schedule the remaining time, whether it be studying, extracurriculars, or social fun.
So fear not. I never completed an AP/IB class, nor did I complete advanced elective classes like art or computer science, yet I perform at or above my peers–including those dressed in fancy baccalaureate and advanced elective credits. Understand this: professors presume their students stupid and without any knowledge of their curriculum. But all professors expect their students to manage their time, and LEARN after failure. And since nothing teaches learned correction better than sports, and since Rivers Academy indirectly teaches disciplined time management, I knew everything I needed to know for college.
But know one more thing (something I’m still realizing): use school to fail. Intentional or not, let yourself fail from time-to-time. Familiarize yourself with failure before the price of failure becomes too high. By this, you’ll deflate that price of failure for the future because you’ll know failure won’t end your world. You learn the most when you’re uncomfortable–i.e. growing pains. Most importantly, remember GROWTH HURTS. And if failing doesn’t hurt, then you’re not failing; you’re letting yourself fail.
Try your hardest and take risks while still in a controlled, learning environment. Enjoy the pleasures of your growth and rest assure; you’re already overqualified for college.
Q, your Rivers Academy family is exceptionally proud of the man you have become. Keep up the hard work!
