The Gift to be (Not-so) Simple
Elitist, ivory tower, arrogant. Say what you like about GEP but I really can’t find it in myself to condemn me. In any case, GEp is a good way for the Gov to isolate insane/subversive elements from the rest of the untainted student population, no? Like a Woodbridge for minors. Or have I said that before?
On a side note, I've always noted with interest that "elitist" = bad but "meritocracy and egalitarianism" = good. Aren't both just different sides of the same coin?
Anyway here’s a little thingum I wrote for the GEP’s 20th anniversary publication. It’s a little short and half-baked, but at the 150 word-limit, it was the best I could do (I’m not exactly Mr Succinct here):
If nothing else, my years in GEP, this veritable asylum of diverse and off-beat people, have made me more adventurous, with a “try lah, won’t die (hopefully)” attitude. After all, everyone I knew seemed to be off on some ambitious caper too. End result: as an artist and arts administrator, I have accumulated an embarrassingly full skeleton closet of half-baked concert plans and failed projects which, with any luck, won’t come back to haunt me till I’m 80.
Along the GEPer’s way however, I also picked up some less-than-desirable traits. People have told me that I seem to think on a different wavelength and can appear arrogant or aloof. I should accept responsibility here by saying that who I am today is largely my own handiwork. But GEP definitely had a considerable influence on me—for better and worse.
So, happy birthday, GEP. I’ve had a most…interesting time.
Elitist, ivory tower, arrogant. Say what you like about GEP but I really can’t find it in myself to condemn me. In any case, GEp is a good way for the Gov to isolate insane/subversive elements from the rest of the untainted student population, no? Like a Woodbridge for minors. Or have I said that before?
On a side note, I've always noted with interest that "elitist" = bad but "meritocracy and egalitarianism" = good. Aren't both just different sides of the same coin?
Anyway here’s a little thingum I wrote for the GEP’s 20th anniversary publication. It’s a little short and half-baked, but at the 150 word-limit, it was the best I could do (I’m not exactly Mr Succinct here):
If nothing else, my years in GEP, this veritable asylum of diverse and off-beat people, have made me more adventurous, with a “try lah, won’t die (hopefully)” attitude. After all, everyone I knew seemed to be off on some ambitious caper too. End result: as an artist and arts administrator, I have accumulated an embarrassingly full skeleton closet of half-baked concert plans and failed projects which, with any luck, won’t come back to haunt me till I’m 80.
Along the GEPer’s way however, I also picked up some less-than-desirable traits. People have told me that I seem to think on a different wavelength and can appear arrogant or aloof. I should accept responsibility here by saying that who I am today is largely my own handiwork. But GEP definitely had a considerable influence on me—for better and worse.
So, happy birthday, GEP. I’ve had a most…interesting time.
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