Scholarship in America’s High Schools

Scholarship is a virtue that is essential to the prodigal Einstein, the champion Williams, or world-renowned Picasso. The same scholarship and character that inspired Spielberg’s films, wrote Marquez’s epics and painted Da Vinci’s, Mona Lisa.

In modern academia, the sense of scholarship has become largely transactional, where one student is awarded for exceptional academic, athletic, or other performances, a concept, which in my opinion, embodies the exact meaning of scholarship. Being a scholar to me means devoting oneself to their field of study or activity to the point of excellence. Your sport, art, or study becomes your entire life, you become endlessly obsessed, you work interminably and in the end, you have a tangible reward; whether that is recognition, monetary aid, or prestige. However, scholarship for a reward rather than excellence is a meritocratic contamination of what truly being a scholar is. Your passion and love for your study should not be for material or cosmetic gain because what happens when that particular award, amount of money, that level of notoriety is not enough. When the thing you sought out suddenly is not enough, you are trapped in an infinite loop of going on to the next biggest thing, the next biggest prize. Healthy ambition is most definitely not to be avoided nor are high aspirations, in fact, a true scholar, and a strong culture of scholarship cultivates these things. However, when the intentions are impure, the scholarship that is said to last a lifetime seemingly sails away. So what does this say about the strength of a culture of scholarship, especially in the high schools of America? Well, it is my opinion, that scholarship in many ways, fortunately, has the positive aspects previously discussed, such as a tangible end result in the form of Honor Rolls and other academic rewards. In the academic lives of students across the nation, these titles are not motivation but rather standards. They are simple, tangible, clear indicators of one’s scholarly academic success. Scholarship in the athletic realm is embodied in the broken school records. The success of school musicians is shown in their placings at competition and the utilization of these musicians in school productions and performances. Essentially, many schools have provided standards of scholarship that all aim to meet, many surpass, and even fewer set anew when they step foot every morning on campus. These standards inspire scholarship, they provide goals, structure, open opportunities for collaboration and camaraderie, all while maintaining the true integrity of a strong scholarly culture.