Sunday, July 29, 2007

Defying the status quo

I graduated from a prestigious all-girls Catholic private school in Buffalo. It's not a "Catholic" school, per se (privately funded, not part of the Diocese), so I'm not a traditional "Catholic School Girl;" no uniforms or daily rosary readings or nuns beating me with rulers, but yes, I went to Nardin Academy.

When I tell people this, I get the same reaction: "YOU went to NARDIN?" I'm never sure if I should be insulted or flattered by this reaction, because I'm never quite sure how to interpret it. Is it that I don't seem smart enough to have gone there? Rich enough to have afforded it? Well-behaved enough to have managed to stay in? Or is it that my lack of success in life belies my superb educational background? Maybe it's because I didn't grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer or a software developer, or any of the other various "good" career paths chosen by my classmates. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up to marry a Canisius boy and pop out a mess of Nardlets whom I cart around in my M-class SUV. I mean, hell, I don't even own my own home, let alone a giant one in East Amherst.

This is not to say that I feel bad about any of the above possible reasons. I never wanted to be a lawyer, and was strong enough to face the truth about myself and a career in medicine two years into a pre-med program. I hate the suburbs, and I never even liked Canisius boys. I always thought they were obnoxious, spoiled, preppy jerks, and coming from the modest background that I did, felt I was - and never would be - snobby enough to fit into their social circles, even if I'd wanted to. Nope, I was happier dating the public school dirtbags and the occasional Timon boy, not to mention catching myself in a load of trouble with a dropout at one point. Yeah, I sold myself short most of the time.

But I digress. I suppose the status quo of the typical Nardin girl is nothing like what I've turned out to be. And I'm okay with that. I just wish people would be a little less obvious about registering such shock when they find out I'm an alumna.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

YOU went to Nardin?!?!!!???

:)

Love ya, Deedee!

Mike M.

Run_Mommy_Run said...

Don't be negative. They probably mean it like, "YOU went to Nardin? But you're not a puffed-up, snooty bitch at all!"

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad YOU went to Nardin. Good thing we're not all puffed-up snooty bitches, huh?

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain. 15 years and 3 cities later and I still bump into people who look me up and down and say "YOU went to Nardin?" But know what? High school stopped defining me about 14 1/2 years ago. I'm not interested in anyone who takes the time to judge me by where I went to high school.

Deedee said...

I'm dying to know who you are!