My daughter Tanya will move to Grade 9th (the dreaded beginning of High School) next academic year. I have been trying through various sources to get an insight into what it takes to understand the transition to High School but could not get much to chew on. Hence I decided to write my experience in seeing my daughter move from Middle School to High School. I have decided to write five installment of this experience at appropriate intervals based on the actual transition and hope some parents who will have High School going kids in the nest 2 years will find it useful. It might also be useful to just understand the US high school systems for my readers who may be outside of US
The first inkling that my daughter is slowly moving towards High School was when a small note from her school (Middle School called Thomas Russell Middle School) came around 2nd week of December 2008 while she is still in 8th grade. It asks the parent of soon to be High Schooler to participate in an orientation course in Milpitas High School on January 11th 2009. Milpitas is the city in Bay area in California where we live in .
I kept the notice from the school around my laptop for almost 3 weeks lest I forget the orientation date. Tanya never seemed to be excited about this orientation course and in fact seemed a bit amused over my enthusiasm to participate in the orientation. Finally, much to my amusement I was ready well before time and reached the High School auditorium along with my younger daughter, Tanvi. I was definitely quite excited to know what happens in High School. I never changed school from Grade 1 to Grade 10th and hence never got this opportunity when I was moving to High School. May be the lack of such experience while I was moving to High school classes though in the same school kept my excitement level higher when I get a chance to learn first hand here in US.
The programme started sharp at 7:00 PM PST with the Principal introducing himself and a few counselors. He then greeted the parents and started providing some key difference in High school from Middle school. The Principal said that everything in high School was almost 6 times bigger than the Middle school like :
1. area of the school (almost 6 times the size of middle school),
2. no. of teachers (125 in High School as against 25 in Middle School)
3. no. of students (almost 2500 in High School as against 250 in Middle School)
4. no. of classrooms, etc…
The Principal tried to assure the parents that apart from the increased size of the school including no. of teachers, no. of students all other things are quite normal. In fact he said that the discipline is more rigorous in High School than in Middle School. Here is the name by which students are called in their 4 years of High School
1. Freshmen : 9th Grade
2. Sophomore : 10th Grade
3. Junior : 11th Grade
4. Senior : 12th Grade
The Principal also informed that it will need 225 credits plus 20 hours of community service plus clearing the California High School Exit test to graduate out of High School. There are some subjects like English, Maths, Social Studies that are compulsory for everyone to take while there is couple of electives that the students have to chose from a list of electives. Here is the list of electives that are on offer in Milpitas High School
Incidentally for the first time I also came to understand that Advance Placement Course (that some students take to get some college credits) is a private enterprise / business. All along I had a notion that such Advance Placement courses are sponsored by the Government through the High School for students who are meritorious. However, that’s not true. Advance Placement Courses is a private business and it was one of the many lessons of Educational Capitalism that I have come to realize in US.
The orientation course finally ended at 8:00 PM after some routine questions from interested parents and their answers by the faculty. I especially liked the Speech and the Debate teacher who ahs earlier been attorney and judge for 35 years. He really energized the audience with his superb speech as to why students need to select “Speech and Debate course” as one of their electives. I don’t remember his name but I think I was personally impressed by his oratorical skills for me to go back and ask Tanya to think considering taking this particular elective. Being a professional attorney and Judge, to me ,gives this teacher a very unique perspective to students in his class about debates and speeches. I wish Tanya takes this elective as it might help her intangibly in her overall personality development as she grows older.
Finally, I and Tanvi left the auditorium after posing some few question to the Principal about the importance of Advance Placement courses. Looking back I think that particular evening in Milpitas High School Auditorium definitely helped me start thinking about the upcoming transition of Tanya from Middle school to High School.
Stay tuned for the second update in this series of High School Transition Experience….
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Relevance of API Score in the context of selecting High School
We are all aware of API score being the guidelines for being a good or a bad school. It’s a fact that API scores and certain demographics go hand in hand. Most of the school that has a high API score has predominantly Asian population that historically has placed high value to academics. In most of the Asian countries only a good education can guarantee a good career.
However, if you look objectively, there are some serious questions about the desire of making your kids go through the same stressed environment through which most of the 1st generation of immigrants have gone in their own country. America is a capitalist economy while most of the Asian countries were either a colony of some empire or a socialist economy. The resources are plentiful in US while back home there is a huge scarcity of resources. For one seat in IIT there are more than 3000 competitors. There were more than lakh applicants for 26 seats in AIIMS, New Delhi.
The situation in US is completely different. You can literally start a career after you are barely out of High School. You can have tons of opportunities to make money without even graduating from high school. The opportunities are only limited by your imagination. No job is considered menial. A truck driver who has a passion in driving can earn the same compared to an engineer considering an early start for the career of a truck driver. In other words the options are limitless. This sort of thing was unthinkable while we were in High school back in India. The only career was a Doctor or an Engineer etc. But times have changed. With the opening of the Indian economy in 1991, the career opportunities are coming to people who are barely out of their college and in few instances out of their high schools. This trend is going to increase as India will keep on integrating with the developed world economies.
I do believe that as a 1st generation immigrant parent we have a responsibility to balance our own desire through our kids versus giving them the freedom to choose what they want. Personally, I would tilt towards making them understand the pros and cons of their choice and leave it to their judgments but at times I also would be strict and may impose my will if I see that their choice belies rationale. As my wife says being a good human being is far more important than being the topper.
I would not like to get into the rat race of getting my kids into schools having relatively superior API scores. I consider that API score has more of an economical value than anything else. A good API score will demand a premium on real estate in US. A good API score will have mostly well to do families who will always want their kids to come first. I would rather have my kid’s personality be shaped by providing them life’s lesson rather than putting them in stressful environments and making them compete if they don’t naturally show a flair for such competition. Let them enjoy their young years with a broad guidelines that help them to stay on course without being tormented to come first in schools that thrive on such competition and hence have higher API scores
Today, I was in the orientation class of High School considering that Tanya would be going to High School next academic year. The Principal of Milpitas High School in response to my question told me that you need to have good SAT scores and good academic records to get into decent college rather than having the best API schools to graduate from and thereby running the risk of burning yourself out before 4 crucial years of College.
While neither the Indian system of education that puts high level of stress on the children’s nor the relaxed way of teaching in the US are a good example of a balanced education system, I do believe that quality parental supervision and sharing of life’s lesson while stressing disciplined approach to study will eventually triumph because that’s where the equilibrium is. Let’s not get disoriented by the sabre rattling of getting your kids admitted to only in a school with highest API rankings. Didn't we come out of ordinary schools but still are relatively succesful?
I would be interested to know if you have a different opinion…
However, if you look objectively, there are some serious questions about the desire of making your kids go through the same stressed environment through which most of the 1st generation of immigrants have gone in their own country. America is a capitalist economy while most of the Asian countries were either a colony of some empire or a socialist economy. The resources are plentiful in US while back home there is a huge scarcity of resources. For one seat in IIT there are more than 3000 competitors. There were more than lakh applicants for 26 seats in AIIMS, New Delhi.
The situation in US is completely different. You can literally start a career after you are barely out of High School. You can have tons of opportunities to make money without even graduating from high school. The opportunities are only limited by your imagination. No job is considered menial. A truck driver who has a passion in driving can earn the same compared to an engineer considering an early start for the career of a truck driver. In other words the options are limitless. This sort of thing was unthinkable while we were in High school back in India. The only career was a Doctor or an Engineer etc. But times have changed. With the opening of the Indian economy in 1991, the career opportunities are coming to people who are barely out of their college and in few instances out of their high schools. This trend is going to increase as India will keep on integrating with the developed world economies.
I do believe that as a 1st generation immigrant parent we have a responsibility to balance our own desire through our kids versus giving them the freedom to choose what they want. Personally, I would tilt towards making them understand the pros and cons of their choice and leave it to their judgments but at times I also would be strict and may impose my will if I see that their choice belies rationale. As my wife says being a good human being is far more important than being the topper.
I would not like to get into the rat race of getting my kids into schools having relatively superior API scores. I consider that API score has more of an economical value than anything else. A good API score will demand a premium on real estate in US. A good API score will have mostly well to do families who will always want their kids to come first. I would rather have my kid’s personality be shaped by providing them life’s lesson rather than putting them in stressful environments and making them compete if they don’t naturally show a flair for such competition. Let them enjoy their young years with a broad guidelines that help them to stay on course without being tormented to come first in schools that thrive on such competition and hence have higher API scores
Today, I was in the orientation class of High School considering that Tanya would be going to High School next academic year. The Principal of Milpitas High School in response to my question told me that you need to have good SAT scores and good academic records to get into decent college rather than having the best API schools to graduate from and thereby running the risk of burning yourself out before 4 crucial years of College.
While neither the Indian system of education that puts high level of stress on the children’s nor the relaxed way of teaching in the US are a good example of a balanced education system, I do believe that quality parental supervision and sharing of life’s lesson while stressing disciplined approach to study will eventually triumph because that’s where the equilibrium is. Let’s not get disoriented by the sabre rattling of getting your kids admitted to only in a school with highest API rankings. Didn't we come out of ordinary schools but still are relatively succesful?
I would be interested to know if you have a different opinion…
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Satyam, a $1 Billion fraud
What a national disgrace Satyam Chairman has brought to all of us. Satyam means truth and I am sure till today this was the mantra of the company but the shocking disclosure of its chairman, Raju once again demonstrates that both the good and the bad exists within each of us and who takes the upper hand decides the snapshot of the action. However, what was disturbing in Raju’s case is that he was the perpetrator of the wrong deeds over a number of years and he just tried to keep it under the wraps as long as he possible could. This makes his mistake appalling and not worthy of slightest sympathy.
Raju himself has admitted that he was riding a tiger and didn’t know how to get off without being eaten. His actions to cover up his mistakes for so long are nothing short of mass financial murders akin to mass murders that we sometimes see in our society. There have been millions of small investors whose wealth just evaporated in front of their eyes and they could not do anything about it. It was their life savings and the greed of a few just took everything away from these hapless employee and small shareholders.
This debacle also poses some very disturbing questions:
1. How can one person make such a large scale fraud of investor’s money?
2. Did Satyam auditors also colluded with Raju while they were supposed to protect the shareholder’s interest?
3. Was the Satyam board sleeping and forget their fiduciary duty of overseeing the shareholder’s interest?
4. The fate of approx. 53000 Satyam employee and their families (I am glad that I left Satyam 4 years back)
5. How the small investors will regain their losses?
6. Why Raju and so many others were allowed to remain outside for almost 3 full days after their shocking disclosures and hence giving them time to destroy key evidences?
However, I do see some silver lining out of the current mess. I am sure there will lot of scrutiny in terms of audit and financial well being of the companies which ultimately will help in protecting the shareholder’s and their employee’s. Role of the Government in bailing out companies of national / international stature will also be of significant interest.
Raju himself has admitted that he was riding a tiger and didn’t know how to get off without being eaten. His actions to cover up his mistakes for so long are nothing short of mass financial murders akin to mass murders that we sometimes see in our society. There have been millions of small investors whose wealth just evaporated in front of their eyes and they could not do anything about it. It was their life savings and the greed of a few just took everything away from these hapless employee and small shareholders.
This debacle also poses some very disturbing questions:
1. How can one person make such a large scale fraud of investor’s money?
2. Did Satyam auditors also colluded with Raju while they were supposed to protect the shareholder’s interest?
3. Was the Satyam board sleeping and forget their fiduciary duty of overseeing the shareholder’s interest?
4. The fate of approx. 53000 Satyam employee and their families (I am glad that I left Satyam 4 years back)
5. How the small investors will regain their losses?
6. Why Raju and so many others were allowed to remain outside for almost 3 full days after their shocking disclosures and hence giving them time to destroy key evidences?
However, I do see some silver lining out of the current mess. I am sure there will lot of scrutiny in terms of audit and financial well being of the companies which ultimately will help in protecting the shareholder’s and their employee’s. Role of the Government in bailing out companies of national / international stature will also be of significant interest.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Changing Face of Gift Giving
Gifts are ubiquitous part of our social life. Right from birth to various milestones in one’s life including birthdays people do receive gifts from their near & dear ones. There have been various kind of gifts but they can easily be categorized in maximum 5 or 6 distinct categories. However, gifts have also changed or evolved over a period of time.
When I was young, I normally used to get clothes as part of my gifts. My aunts, uncles and closed relatives would all used to find some sort of clothes (mostly shirts & occasional trousers) as gifts during my young age. With age clothes started getting replaced with money. I think at that age I really liked money as gift as you can do whatever that money could fetch.
When my daughters were born, I used to see toys along with clothes and money as gifts. Of course, in India sometimes there would be occasional gold gifts like a chain etc. When we came to US, we experienced that gifts for kids were usually toys and gifts for adults were usually some household items that most of the time were difficult to use and used to mostly end up getting recycled. I also saw the prevalence of gift cards which is not bad. However, I always thought of going for books as gifts but then I believe books still do not command a universal appeal as good gifts. I have also noticed that people sometimes may find it difficult to think what to buy as gift and hence thought of making this process very easy for my guests.
Please don’t bring any gifts. Simple and clean! No hassle! Just don’t bring anything. I have talked to my wife on this and she also agrees with me. But for people who want to bring some things no matter what(or think that bringing gift is a necessary social evil), I would strongly suggest that they donate (it could be as low as $1 and no guesses on the other end) to this amazing charity called Foundation for Excellence. You can find lot of other details about this non profit organization at www.ffe.org. I really find myself closer to the objective of this organization and would like to seek help of all my readers, friends and relatives to please donate to this organization instead of bringing gift to us. Small amounts quickly add to a sizeable sum that will go a long way in helping meritorious but poor kids.
This will also help our kids to understand the value of giving and hopefully they can learn to share whatever little or big with the people who have not been blessed in life like us but has lots of potential, if well supported.
Of course the best birthday gift that I got in my entire life was to get engaged with my wife on my birthday and I am not willing to exchange her with any charity!!!
When I was young, I normally used to get clothes as part of my gifts. My aunts, uncles and closed relatives would all used to find some sort of clothes (mostly shirts & occasional trousers) as gifts during my young age. With age clothes started getting replaced with money. I think at that age I really liked money as gift as you can do whatever that money could fetch.
When my daughters were born, I used to see toys along with clothes and money as gifts. Of course, in India sometimes there would be occasional gold gifts like a chain etc. When we came to US, we experienced that gifts for kids were usually toys and gifts for adults were usually some household items that most of the time were difficult to use and used to mostly end up getting recycled. I also saw the prevalence of gift cards which is not bad. However, I always thought of going for books as gifts but then I believe books still do not command a universal appeal as good gifts. I have also noticed that people sometimes may find it difficult to think what to buy as gift and hence thought of making this process very easy for my guests.
Please don’t bring any gifts. Simple and clean! No hassle! Just don’t bring anything. I have talked to my wife on this and she also agrees with me. But for people who want to bring some things no matter what(or think that bringing gift is a necessary social evil), I would strongly suggest that they donate (it could be as low as $1 and no guesses on the other end) to this amazing charity called Foundation for Excellence. You can find lot of other details about this non profit organization at www.ffe.org. I really find myself closer to the objective of this organization and would like to seek help of all my readers, friends and relatives to please donate to this organization instead of bringing gift to us. Small amounts quickly add to a sizeable sum that will go a long way in helping meritorious but poor kids.
This will also help our kids to understand the value of giving and hopefully they can learn to share whatever little or big with the people who have not been blessed in life like us but has lots of potential, if well supported.
Of course the best birthday gift that I got in my entire life was to get engaged with my wife on my birthday and I am not willing to exchange her with any charity!!!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Transition Time
If you have been following the recently concluded US President election then you must be aware of the term “Transition Time” where the President elect has enough time to form his cabinet while the incumbent President still is the real President who takes decisions though in consultation with the President-elect.
However, in India, once the results for General Election is out there is hardly any time for transition between incumbent and the elected team. Most of the time after the result is declared goes in horse trading but that’s an altogether separate issue that I don’t want to concentrate right now.
Why can’t we in India also imbibe some form of “Transition Time” so that the leader of the Party-elect can take time to slowly get initiated in the nitty gritty of forming the cabinet and then planning policies that it want to implement when they eventually run the show. Most of the time we see that the President in India after getting the notification of the election results asks the incumbent Govt. to continue working as caretaker Govt. with only notional authority. While there is no concept of briefing the new leadership team on important security & national / international issues and considering them on the same footing as the ruling leadership team; on the other hand the ruling leadership is only a titular head. This creates a leadership vacuum during the transition of power in India.
The Presidential and the Prime ministerial form of democracy that exists in US and in India have their own nuances that may or may not allow the “Transition Time” in India that we see in US but it’s worth considering to follow this important concept in some shape or form suitable for democracy in India.
To me it’s following one of the best practices while not making structural changes.
However, in India, once the results for General Election is out there is hardly any time for transition between incumbent and the elected team. Most of the time after the result is declared goes in horse trading but that’s an altogether separate issue that I don’t want to concentrate right now.
Why can’t we in India also imbibe some form of “Transition Time” so that the leader of the Party-elect can take time to slowly get initiated in the nitty gritty of forming the cabinet and then planning policies that it want to implement when they eventually run the show. Most of the time we see that the President in India after getting the notification of the election results asks the incumbent Govt. to continue working as caretaker Govt. with only notional authority. While there is no concept of briefing the new leadership team on important security & national / international issues and considering them on the same footing as the ruling leadership team; on the other hand the ruling leadership is only a titular head. This creates a leadership vacuum during the transition of power in India.
The Presidential and the Prime ministerial form of democracy that exists in US and in India have their own nuances that may or may not allow the “Transition Time” in India that we see in US but it’s worth considering to follow this important concept in some shape or form suitable for democracy in India.
To me it’s following one of the best practices while not making structural changes.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year 2009
2008 is over and for the first time in my adult life I have experienced so many people around me being happy about seeing a year going into history books. I can share their feelings as 2008 has been a brutal year worldwide in general and US in particular on the economic front. In US - millions of jobs lost, iconic institutions vanishing during the weekends, people overnight having zero net worth from millions a day earlier, losing homes to foreclosure; whichever way we slice 2008 the result is the same.
That brings increased hope and expectations for the year 2009. I pray that 2009 be good to everyone across the globe. No individual can prosper if the community around you gets hammered. I am sure with still lot of steam left in the chugging economies of BRIC countries, US will avoid a Great Depression of 30’s. What an amazing shift of power (I call it Equilibrium) our generation is witnessing. While on the one hand we see that countries like India and China still posting upper single digit growth in GDP, it is estimated that US economy might shrink by around 4% in the latest quarterly report to be out in 2nd week of Jan 2009. It is coutries like India and China that has really helped the world economy avoid total collapse. However, US is still a mighty force and it is in everyone's interest that US springs back out of Recession as quickly as possible and we can contribute our bit by
1. being prudent in our spending,
2. managing our resources well,
3. working smart and hard in our jobs,
4. avoid falling in bad debt
5. be good to people in need
Wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year 2009!
That brings increased hope and expectations for the year 2009. I pray that 2009 be good to everyone across the globe. No individual can prosper if the community around you gets hammered. I am sure with still lot of steam left in the chugging economies of BRIC countries, US will avoid a Great Depression of 30’s. What an amazing shift of power (I call it Equilibrium) our generation is witnessing. While on the one hand we see that countries like India and China still posting upper single digit growth in GDP, it is estimated that US economy might shrink by around 4% in the latest quarterly report to be out in 2nd week of Jan 2009. It is coutries like India and China that has really helped the world economy avoid total collapse. However, US is still a mighty force and it is in everyone's interest that US springs back out of Recession as quickly as possible and we can contribute our bit by
1. being prudent in our spending,
2. managing our resources well,
3. working smart and hard in our jobs,
4. avoid falling in bad debt
5. be good to people in need
Wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year 2009!
Faith, Trust & Confidence
I have always been a fan of these three words and wanted to analyze what these three words may mean to different set of people.
People from Service Industry : Not having these three attributes with your client could mean the end of business
People with religious bent of mind: These three attributes creates a reason to connect with the Almighty
Elected representative in Govt Job: Lack of these three attributes will not help them to win the next term
Parents & Child : Having these three attributes will help in having kids who will be confident and matured in their dealings when they grow up
Husband & Wife : Together with “Respect” these three attributes form the four core pillars of a happy married life.
If you have more suggestions then please do let me know and I promise to include them in the list above (of course with a proper credit to you!!!)
People from Service Industry : Not having these three attributes with your client could mean the end of business
People with religious bent of mind: These three attributes creates a reason to connect with the Almighty
Elected representative in Govt Job: Lack of these three attributes will not help them to win the next term
Parents & Child : Having these three attributes will help in having kids who will be confident and matured in their dealings when they grow up
Husband & Wife : Together with “Respect” these three attributes form the four core pillars of a happy married life.
If you have more suggestions then please do let me know and I promise to include them in the list above (of course with a proper credit to you!!!)
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