JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

According to an article Cathy Nickum wrote and published on Bainbridge Buzz, study team members who recently visited Bainbridge High School as part of the accreditation process were shocked and appalled at the state of the technology, facilities and capabilities. One of the team members was the principal of Bishop Blanchet High School, Kent Hickey, who pointed out that his high school does not have any computers still running Windows ’98, which is in use at Bainbridge. He also expressed concerns that Bainbridge High School may not be properly preparing students for post-graduate opportunities due to lack of adequate technology.

This report comes days after our $8.9 million technology levy failed to pass. What’s curious to me is that I did not see this exact angle of this story presented in either of the two newspapers on the island in the past week. Did I miss it? Perhaps the accreditation team was shocked on their once-in-seven-years visit to the high school, but I was also surprised to hear that the lack of technology and facilities may be affecting the students and the school so adversely. Was this publicized prior to the levy? From an opposition perspective, it would be easy to say that the images presented with the levy seemed luxurious: electronic white boards and remote-control-like clickers, for example, as well as extensive training costs for teachers. This report on the Buzz instead presents a desperate picture, one that would have helped levy proponents promote their position powerfully.

I would wonder whether the comparison to Blanchet High School is appropriate. We do compete against them directly in athletics, and of course, graduates compete against each other for positions in employment and post-high school education. However, I don’t think it is fair to compare a private high school to a public one, unless we want to start charging tuition. I’d be curious to know how many other public high schools are still running Windows ’98. For example what are the statistics at Mercer Island High? Or Bellevue?

Yet I’m also surprised that Windows ’98 is not enough for post-high school opportunities. Until I switched to my new PowerBook last month I was using Windows 98 on my ThinkPad. Are the differences between this operating system and subsequent ones significant and sufficient to discourage hiring? On the one hand, as someone who trained to be a science teacher, and as a parent and community member, I want our students to have the best opportunities. On the other hand though I wonder whether a difference in operating systems is important enough to warrant the extra funds and education. For one, given the average income and housing price on the island, I would guess that a majority of island families already own updated computers and many teens may already be using current versions of Office for their homework.

More importantly though I would hope that employers and educators value abilities and character over explicit experiences. Operating systems and software will always be changing. Specific skills come and go. I believe it is better to know how to learn a new system, to be curious and courageous, flexible and eager to adapt to changes. It is the principle that is more important that the details of the practice. Are our kids curious? How do they respond to new situations? Can they figure out what to do if they don’t know what to do? A person who knows how to use the latest systems will soon be a useless employee if he or she is not able to adapt to changes and learn new ways of using computers.

It’s important for our kids to have the best and to be prepared. However, it’s also important to examine what kind of preparation is best.

With the temperature high and the tide low, the girls and I headed over to Fay Bainbridge State Park on May 25. The weather was wonderful for taking photographs.

As Robert Scoble mentioned, we might try to organize a camping trip after Gnomedex at the park. While staying overnight at Fay Bainbridge wouldn’t be as intense and rugged as camping near Mount Baker, for example, the proximity to downtown Seattle (35 minute ferry ride plus 10- 15 minutes of driving on the island) might allow more people to participate. As these pictures attest, the park has its own adventures and attractions. On a clear day, Cascade mountains and Seattle skyscrapers can be seen.

Parking is $5 a day. Camping is first-come first-serve, no reservations, costing $16 – $22 a night. There are sites along the parking lot which is beside the beach, and other tent sites farther from the water in a meadow/woods area. The park offers showers, running water, bbqs and eating areas plus a playground.

For tips see The Happy Camper from the May 29 Seattle Times

On a sunny day, Mount Rainier is visible, looming large across the Sound.

Life at low tide

Sea anemone

The view from the water at low tide, looking up the beach towards the forest. The orange dot by the log is our bucket.

Somehow playing with this picture, I lost the color and saved it as black and white.

The beach has a large number of driftwood logs between the ocean and the woods.

Playground

Views of the campsites.

A Park volunteer told me that there are other tent campsites up the hill in the woods/meadow area

A last few photos of the view from the beach. In this one the northern Cascades can be seen.

Mount Rainier seen over the grasses.

Via tiffany at blackfeminism.org I discovered Ms. Magazine’s article on Housewife Wars featuring quotes from author Stephanie Coontz:

“Marriage is harder today,” Coontz adds, “because it’s more optional. There are more choices. The very things that make it better also make it more difficult, and vice versa. It’s precisely because marriage can be more fulfilling today that it’s more of a struggle.”

We do have more choices. We don’t have to get married. We don’t have to stay home. Marriage isn’t the automatic assumption it once was.

I think also that we in general have better understanding of what makes a good marriage, and what makes a good marriage better. Marriage has always been difficult. Put two people together and see how well they survive, especially as life turns on the pressure. But now we have more dialogue and discussion about our relationships. We have expectations. We want it to be good – and we have a better idea what good is.

***

A few days have passed since I wrote the above paragraphs. In the meantime, I’ve been reading a book on marriage. A good friend from years ago recommended it and I had hoped it would help me sort through some struggles I’ve been experiencing inside myself. Instead of helping me, the book gave me a headache, as I sorted through what I believed and didn’t believe. I discovered I disagreed with the author’s opinion, despite her years of experience. Then I began to wonder why I disagreed, what had changed in me through time and whether this was good or bad. I was disappointed.

However, if I’ve learned anything through the years, especially in recent trials, I should know now not to let anyone else determine for me what marriage means. Each couple is unique. No one else has been married to Ted. No one else knows what our relationship is like, our history, strength, weaknesses, convictions and challenges. I do want to be open to advice and experience from others. I want to learn. Yet as I read this book I am realizing that I need to work out what marriage means between God, Ted and me and not rely on someone else to tell me.

Dave Winer’s comments on the importance of quality versus inner-child-creative freedom yesterday reminded me of Steve Pavlina’s post on Passion versus Self-Discipline, which I read earlier this week. What’s amusing to me is that both arguments use surgery as an example where quality and discipline are required. I will summarize these two related positions as passion versus perfection. Here are a few thoughts…

• I’ve never operated on a human being, but I have operated on mice as part of a medical research position I had years ago. For a study on the effect of stress, I implanted pumps that delivered hormones into the animal. Speaking from my past as an expert animal surgeon (said with some sarcasm), I can say that both qualities are necessary. It’s not an either/or but a both. I liked surgery. I think others thought I was good at it. My passion encouraged my skills. The two relate and feed back on each other. One may indicate the other. How did I choose the doctor who operated on my daughter in January? He was someone skilled and experienced but also someone who cared about his patients to the point of going beyond what was expected and required of him. We chose him over another older surgeon who is probably one of the most experienced in the area because of who he was as a person.
• What Dave has mentioned in previous posts and podcasts, including this one, is empowering people to be creative. As he’s said, we are all creative as children and this is precious and important, a fragile beauty. I believe we were made to create. We enjoy it. It’s a part of who we are as humans. Yet often we are discouraged. As a parent it is important to praise our kids and bless their endeavors, the scribbles. The world may not do this. Sooner or later we may discover that we don’t make the cut. We live in a society that encourages perfection. I see this emphasis already happening with my young children. Evaluations start early. Grades, athletic levels and competition along with the subsequent judgments and labels soon become an accepted part of life. We have stress and suppress it as we climb the ladder, forced to fit into a definition. Some of us eventually let go of dreams and desires in order to find something where we can succeed, according to the world’s standard, something where we can please our parents or pay the bills. We trade the fun and hope we had playing with our creativity, giving up the sense of purpose, for a paycheck, for a position in the order of things, thinking this is the way the world works. Blogging and other ways of expression happening on the Internet can help to restore who we were as kids.
• This argument of passion versus perfection is important to me because I’m looking for what I lost earlier in life. I did well in school. I studied hard. Ted jokes he had to compete with the Sciences Library for my Friday nights when we were dating. However I didn’t have a lot of passion for it. In retrospect, I was like a robot. I turned into someone performing for grades and acceptance. Sure, I liked my classes. I was a good student. But there were fears larger than my passion. I had lots of discipline. But I didn’t have desire, at least not as much as I could have. This was also true for me in my spiritual life. Actions came easy but passion was harder. I’ve learned I can do plenty of things without having the heart behind them, turning off emotions for what I think is a crucial mission. It is now years later that I feel free to pursue my desires. The world seems exciting and new to me. I spend what spare time I have exploring subjects that didn’t interest me in earlier years, finding who I am, who I was years ago as a little girl. As a mom, I’m encouraging my kids to do whatever they enjoy. I want them to do well but I also want them to continue in whatever they were created to create, no matter what label others may apply to them. Ted and I hope our daughters will continue in both discipline and desire, that they will find passion and purpose, that they will exhibit excellence, not only in what they do, but in who they are.

I just heard this story on NPR this morning: Research Points to New Method of Treating Severe Grief

A new study describes an especially intense form of bereavement that lasts for years and is difficult to treat. But researchers think they may have found a way to treat it, involving intense therapy in which patients were asked to recall the specifics of the death and imagine talking out their feelings with the loved one.

Notes from the report:

Some people are not able to pull their lives together even ten years after the death of a loved one.

It’s estimated 1 million Americans a year have severe grief.

When it’s over the therapist gives the recording to the patient and asks them to listen to it at home. (so they become desensitized to it)

Half of the patients got cognitive therapy and others received the specialized treatment.

If they could have gone through the grief on their own or with the help of family and friends, they would have done so.

The idea that talking through the severe grief brings better healing resonates with me. I’m glad to hear the research. I wonder what we can do to help each other. Listening to this report also helped me realize how powerful listening may be to the healing process.