The Student News Site of University Prep

The Puma Press

The Student News Site of University Prep

The Puma Press

The Student News Site of University Prep

The Puma Press

We’re All Stuck Up

There’s a psychological trait in humans where we always want more than we have. No matter how much privilege, happiness and wealth we obtain, we always need more. This can be a good thing, like if one strives to get a better grade on a test, or decides that we need to protest for minority rights.

Sometimes, we need to step back. If you are a student attending University Prep, you have some sort of privilege. Whether you pay full tuition or not, we’re all prioritized as students, with teachers who care about our well-being and have access to fresh cooked meals every day.

Every time someone complains that the free sports jacket and uniform they got isn’t the right color, or that the camping trips that teachers have spent weeks preparing aren’t worth going to, they’re enforcing the “private-school-kid” stereotype.

We’re lucky to be going to UPrep, but we spend so much time tearing it down that we don’t notice. Our recent homecoming dance was on a boat and catered with non-alcoholic cocktails. Yet, I heard more complaining from UPrep kids than from my friends who had their homecoming in a decorated gymnasium.

The most common complaint, “tuition is so high, why can’t we have [insert expensive luxury here].” The tuition money is going somewhere…to the things we take for granted: the constant upkeep of our school, the resources for clubs we dream up; the list goes on. Contrary to popular belief, the school isn’t throwing wild parties where our tuition money falls from the ceiling in a shower of expensive confetti. Faculty members put thought and effort into making our school the best it can be.

I do admit that I’m guilty of this petty whining too. Next time we find ourselves moaning about how many steps we have to walk up to get to the Commons, instead grouse about larger issues. “Why don’t we pay more attention to global warming?” Instead of “Why are the elevators so slow?”

If we focus on the larger issues at hand, we won’t only sound cultured and philosophical, but we may also do some good in the world.

By Olivia Poolos