July is 31 midnights in a jewel jar. It shines in summer brighter than fall. Then in August, wake-up call. Here and there crepitates a high school student, who can run from September, but only so far.
Many parents are cultivating their children’s elite education around international schools in Beijing, deeming it the golden arc to a golden future. Every family loves a dream child, and Rory Gilmore from the early-oughts TV series Gilmore Girls encapsulates her perfectly: The valedictorian of a crème-de-la-crème high school, admired by a sweet, soft-spoken town, chosen by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and aspiring to be revered journalist, Christianne Amanpour.
Rory’s school life was warmer than the first cups of coffee in autumn. In contrast, real school life is colder than a vacant diner tucked under November and rougher than tree bark peeling off the harshest winters. Here is an analytical guide to becoming Rory Gilmore in Beijing’s international schools.
A familiar term, popularity, rings a familiar pride. It prizes academic acuity and good-natured charm. It begins with “friends,” which is fancier parlance for “co-workers,” whose jobs may be popularity, intelligence, or kindness depending on personal character. Typically, when it comes to exchanging knowledge the old adage that opposites attract rings just as true. We favor those we can learn from, and repel those we are like. In other words, we despise those we compete with. This causes co-workers who harbor similar interests to share for show and fight in stealth.
When selecting co-workers, Rory utilizes her good grades, carefully chosen extracurriculars, and personality.
A little chessboard always lived in Rory. Good grades are her indispensable but unfavorable king. Most students earn good grades, so the awe and applause become apathy and normalcy, an intellectual tax, an IQ tease. Yet, if she loses her good grades, she loses the game. She would be labeled stupid or lazy, and neither seems popular.
Extracurricular activities are her queen’s gambit. All of her classmates learn an instrument, an art, a sport, a second language, and a superfluous community service with coffee heads and sour eyes. The misconception for Rory is that “skill” equates “drill” – the trophies, certificates, and insensitivity. Instead, education favors the statuesque over the ornate, it values passion, insight, and authenticity.
Finally, Rory’s queen, dictating the gambit and flanking the king, is her temperament. Rory is diligent, reliable, and flexible – the congenial co-worker. She is also convivial, innocent, and full of book-smart humor – the girl-next-door and girl-genius. Ultimately, Rory’s finest talent is prying beneath the exterior of others, no matter how rough or tough, to reach their warmest and kindest core. She sees the best in the worst of times, finds the truth in the worst of lies, all when no one else does. Such splendors of personality even extend the grandeur of good grades, they manufacture a lovely friend.
Despite Rory’s strengths, she also embodies the quintessential flaws of Millennial and Gen-Z students. As an only child from the upper-middle class, Rory is entitled, sensitive toward criticism, somewhat judgmental, and opportunistic. Here is her lesson: Confidence is not arrogance, intelligence is not indolence, and perseverance is not intransigence.
Such mistakes destined Rory’s downfall in adulthood, wrinkling her childhood dream. She finally reckoned that popularity and acuity in high school, Ivy League, or even The New York Times, is only a shadow, not a substance. Consequently, Rory is a cautionary tale for all gifted children, who lean on the crutch of academic instruction and always do what’s asked of them when real life requires much more personal growth. With the Gilmore Girls, all students will stumble through their blessed and cursed generation.
KEEP READING: Hello K-Pop Archetypes, Meet C-Pop Clones!
Images: Pinterest, Pexels
