Isabel Friedman

While in one of my previous posts I wrote about how I was sitting outside in 70º weather, the flurries of snow currently falling outside my window make Colby feel less like a bubble and more like a snow globe. For the past two years, I have experienced the Colby bubble: not feeling up to date on current events, feeling extremely validated in all my opinions, and the strangeness of being able to drive back to Colby after CCAK in a small, rural, poverty-stricken town. I simply accepted the Colby bubble; I never questioned it- until now. Through researching elite schools, I now feel as though I understand why and how the bubble exists.

After the election, SNL made this clip, entitled “The Bubble.”

This sketch highlights so many of the aspects of what living in a bubble, especially the elite bubble, encompasses. Here are some of the sketch’s most noteworthy and poignant lines:

“The bubble is a planned community of likeminded free-thinkers… and no one else”

Bourdieu notes that elite spaces are often “as internally homogenous and as externally heterogeneous as possible with respect to a number of fundamental criteria.” I remember that when I first read this earlier in the semester, I felt as though Bourdieu said exactly what I had been thinking and struggling to put into words. The promotion of “free-thinking” within elite institutions is ironic since 1) most of their members are like minded (internally homogenous), 2) they often prevent people with different views and backgrounds from entering.

Eliteness is built upon the foundation of exclusion, and the process of researching the Croft School showed this. There were a few scares this semester where we feared our access to the Croft School could potentially dissolve and we would be excluded from their world. Thankfully this didn’t happen and we remained on the inside. While I previously knew that gaining access to elite school was tricky, experiencing it for myself brought a realization of the cyclical nature of needing to use your own elitness in order to gain access to elites.

“Anybody is welcome to join us, 1 bedroom apartments start at 1.9 million dollars”

Exclusion doesn’t only apply to like-mindedness, but economic capital as well. Over the course of this semester I have come to truly understand that while economic capital does not encompass the entirety of social class or eliteness, it is an extremely significant aspect. The idea that anybody can be elite if they work hard and make money is a singularly meritocratic viewpoint that doesn’t acknowledge the systematic forces working in favor of elite reproduction. One of the most mind-blowing findings in researching the Croft School was that it has no financial aid. That automatically eliminates a large group of people from attending, leaving it open to only the most economically elite.

“Join us, starting in 2017”

Clearly, the development and execution of any major project takes a long time. I have never been involved in a research project that 1) has spanned months, 2) is so collaborative, and 3) is a contribution to a much larger work. Taking our time with the research, theory, interviews, case studies, and discussions allowed myself, my group, and I think the whole class, to deeply explore our topic from all angles. After dedicating so much time and energy to the research, I feel not only extremely invested in what I’m doing, but also highly knowledgeable. I thus find myself bringing up Bourdieu and the mindset of elites and reproduction into the most random conversations.

While I’m definitely still in the bubble, I now recognize both its comforts and harmful aspects, and I’ve definitely pushed myself from safely in the middle to a place closer on the edge.

You know when you’re working on a project and have way too many tabs open on your laptop at once? That’s me right now. As the literature review writer for our project, I am researching the relationship between elite schools and their students’ views on the future, particularly regarding future career aspirations. My research doesn’t pertain to Croft School exclusively, because other literature on the topic will help form a comprehensive analysis and discussion.

SO many resources

To be honest, between online articles and journals and library books, sometimes it feels like there are TOO many resources. However, after doing some investigating, I realized that there were quite a few sources that I’d initially thought would pertain to our topic better than they actually did; for examples, they featured elite universities instead of elite high schools, or discussed starting a career at a private school as opposed to private school student’s opinions on careers. That being said…

Here are my findings so far:

1.) Expectations of success

Between teachers, peers,  parents, and society, students at elite schools have grown up amidst expectations of success. Conversations about college have never been an “if.” but rather a “when” and “where.” These expectations are so internalized that the idea of not being able to go to college because of money or grades is foreign to them. Some students, like our interviewee, recognized that it happens to others, but also insisted that it would never happen to her or her immediate peers.

2.) Greater capital = better how to guide for life

Pierre Bourdieu’s stratification of capital implies that the more capital one has (economic/cultural/social), the more knowledge they have to manipulate life to further themselves. While manipulate often holds negative connotations, elite students have a significant amount of capital they can use to fulfill the expectations placed on them, which manifests into an effective how-to guide for life:

• Economically, they (their parents) will be able to pay for any college they get into, which sets no limits.
• Culturally, they understand which future careers will make the most money or be the most successful, and what steps they need to take to obtain these careers.
• Socially, they have a powerful network of powerful people to help them find and gain opportunities.

3.) Forward thinking

Elite students always seem to bethinking about the future. Our interviewee’s experience and understanding of what her future will be like (successful) is reinforced in many studies, which showcase elite school’s focus on the future (think career centers and networking) and their students’ places in the (increasingly global) world.While our interviewee certainly held this mindset of assured success, it is not isolated to Chile: Colby students, too, are constantly using their capital to think of what their big summer internship will be or how they can form connections now that will help them later.

While I definitely still have more research to do, it is clear that themes of expectations, use of capital, and focus on the future are revealing itself in each reading. Like lions and tigers and bears, these three themes are honestly a bit daunting considering that they are such crucial factors in the lives of young students. They are, however, all necessary, but not necessarily negative aspects of Bourdieu’s theory of the use of capital in elite reproduction. While Dorothy may have the brains, heart, and courage of her companions to combat the lions and tigers and bears all along, elite students have economic, cultural, and social capital to rise to meet expectations and ensure their future success.

Today is October 19th and it is unseasonably warm outside; I am sitting on the too-green-for-late-October lawn. The breeze rustles through the changing fall leaves and I notice the deliberateness of the trees’ placements- more around the edges, symmetrical, leaving an opening in the middle perfect for college students to play frisbee or do work by the pond on a beautiful October day (while taking a few too many breaks from homework to bask in the sun and look at Johnson Pond). Benches are placed at prime pond and sunset viewing positions, while at the same time each near enough to a tree that they are covered by shade on hot sunny days.

Everything around me is orchestrated. From the placement of trees and the symmetrical dorms that frame the pond, to Miller as the heart of campus and the pond itself, Colby has designed all aspects of campus to reflect its status as an elite institution. On my first campus visit, I marveled at all the brick buildings and the symmetrical layout of Colby’s campus. In retrospect, this feeling of awe is exactly what Colby wants everyone, from visitors to students, to feel. Its architecture communicates elite Western values (i.e. Miller’s clock tower being the highest point, thus able to be seen not only from everywhere on campus, but in the local community as well). Its orchestrated eliteness can also be seen in what is hidden. Heights and Hillside are two dorms that don’t match the rest of campus. They are physically hidden behind trees or hills, and not-coincidentally, have the highest rates of dorm damage and are not shown on campus tours to prospective students.

How does Colby’s architecture compare to Croft? Croft School, like most elite schools, incorporates the aesthetics of design and architecture to promote eliteness. I found one parent’s review of Croft’s facilities, saying that it is aesthetically beautiful, but not designed practically for the students. For example, there is very little outdoor space for children to play, open areas are lined with stone, parking and fields are crowded, and the scattered buildings make it difficult for parents with multiple children.

Issues of practicality aside, Croft School is beautifully constructed and showcases its eliteness through its modern-yet-full-of-old-school-charm facilities. Ivy covered buildings with breezeways coexist with Greco-Roman pillars and geometrically interesting concrete structures. One picture on the school’s website shows all three of these buildings, which are situated next to each other. While different from Colby’s homogenous buildings, Croft still projects an elite mien.

Is an institution truly elite if it doesn’t “look” elite? Colby’s meticulous maintenance of its grounds and Croft School’s aesthetic architecture makes me want to answer in the negative. Although Croft may not have much grass, metaphorically speaking, the grass is always greener for those who can afford to water it. 

Dead Poets Society has been one of my favorite movies since it was introduced to me sophomore year of high school by my english teacher after we read The Catcher in the Rye. At the time, I simply appreciated Robin William’s brilliant portrayal of Mr. Keating, the pleasing aesthetics of poetry, and the mid twentieth-century, but didn’t think much beyond the sentiments of carpe diem and the power of words (not to mention the iconic “oh captain, my captain” finale).

Sophomore year of college, Mark Tappan showed my class scenes from the film in Teaching for Social Justice, with a more critical lens focusing on Mr. Keating’s teaching style (if you were wondering, it is progressive). While this second time viewing Dead Poets Society in an educational setting made me think about the film in an educational context, it wasn’t until last week that I began to think about it in terms of elite schooling. As I was browsing the websites of elite private schools, many images reminded me of scenes from Dead Poets Society, with young boys in uniforms and beautiful campuses with fallen leaves scattering the unnaturally green grass. Welton Academy, the elite boys prep school in Dead Poets Society, boats four pillars: “tradition, honor, discipline, and excellency.” I could see traces of these four stereotypical “pillars” through different schools’ mission statements, information, and pictures.

Looking back, I think elite schools have always interested me (re: Dead Poets Society and my fondness with Zoey 101, Gilmore Girls, and John Greene’s Looking for Alaska). However, for some reason, I previously assumed that educational studies in college would focus on schools in poverty. The subject of studying elite schooling was something I had never considered before taking Adam’s course, Schools and Society; when we began to study Colby and how privilege plays into schooling, I was intrigued.

I think this stems from my own educational experiences. While I did not go to a private school, home is a wealthy Maine town whose school system is consistently named one of the top five in the state. My high school is only 15 years old and sits on a beautiful campus. Academically, to 73% of students take AP courses, and my graduating year, to be in the top 10% of the class, you needed to achieve a GPA of at least 98.2%. (Over 93% of students are white and fewer than 5% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, but that could be a whole other discussion.) We also boast many state championships in sports, arts, and academics, which has made our school’s nickname “Titletown.” Additionally, our mascot is Yachtie the Yachtsman. Yes, a yachtsman, the embodiment of a person who owns a type of boat that is synonymous with wealth and the upper class.

I’m not trying to boast about my high school with these qualifications, but portray its status as an elite school (despite not being a private school). Sometimes I’m almost ashamed of coming from such a privileged place because of my town’s reputation, both in neighboring communities and even to some extent at Colby, as being full of spoiled rich kids; I feel this shame because I don’t identify as fitting this stereotype. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely thankful for the amazing education I received there, but especially since coming to Colby I am much more aware of the role privilege has played in my life. This school system led me to Colby and made my transition here that much easier, as socioeconomically and academically, Colby wasn’t that different from home.

While my transition was relatively easy, it must have been even smoother for students coming from private schools, whose culture and climate are even closer to Colby’s than my public high school’s. Living in a dorm and having this much independence was new to me, but many of my peers who attended private schools spent their high school years in a dorm; their elite private institutions have prepared them to jump right into college without having the shock of a completely new living and social situation, and they are thus better prepared than many public school students to focus on academics and social life right away.

Students at Croft School graduate and enter some of the top universities in the world, and are thus very well prepared for college. In beginning my research on Croft School, the Headmaster’s message contained the following elite “buzzwords”:

• tradition
• discipline
• commitment
• all-rounder (mental, physical, social, moral growth)
• excellence
• quality
• future leaders

Like Welton Academy in Dead Poets Society, Croft’s core values surround the advancement of their students in all areas while keeping a focus on the tradition of the institution that separates it from other schools (often, its very eliteness and the emphasis on quality and excellence).

As the research process continues, it will be interesting to see how eliteness manifests in the Croft School, especially in terms of socioeconomic background, as this is the topic my group is exploring. I also am curious to see how my views and understandings about elite schools in relation to public schools, whether privileged or not, change over the course of the semester. Although I may not have had an “oh captain, my captain” moment in high school, I was still a yachtsman- about as close to a private school as a public school can get.