PrivateTim Posted September 25, 2011 Posted September 25, 2011 It does feel a little early for online classes, but that could be another solution for the weeks where JJ is traveling. It WOULD be interesting if JJ winds up flunking out of Harvard-Westlake and either just going back to Malibu or dropping out of school entirely, and getting his GED at 15. That would ensure his status as the black sheep of the family. LOL. In any event, it should be an interesting conflict for JJ to deal with. It's hard to maintain high school friendships with people if you're going off for entire weeks at a time. JJ wouldn't flunk out of Harvard Westlake, they watch the kids too closely for that. Long before absolute failure would be a possibility they would be meeting with the parents to discuss options, including a transfer to a school like Crossroads or Oakwood that might allow independent study or extended absences. The Crampton-Schluter clans are too academically oriented to allow JJ to just slide. Also, all the role models JJ would have had, Kristi, Johnny, Michael, Tim and Todd were mostly honor students in their high schools and several went on to very prestigious colleges. People tend to conform to their surroundings.
methodwriter85 Posted September 26, 2011 Author Posted September 26, 2011 JJ wouldn't flunk out of Harvard Westlake, they watch the kids too closely for that. Long before absolute failure would be a possibility they would be meeting with the parents to discuss options, including a transfer to a school like Crossroads or Oakwood that might allow independent study or extended absences. The Crampton-Schluter clans are too academically oriented to allow JJ to just slide. Also, all the role models JJ would have had, Kristi, Johnny, Michael, Tim and Todd were mostly honor students in their high schools and several went on to very prestigious colleges. People tend to conform to their surroundings. You mean like how Brad was so on top of what Darius was doing that he didn't know that Darius had grades so bad that he resorted to going to Santa Clara University? They totally allowed Darius to slide. In any event, it WILL be interesting to see how JJ will try and juggle a school as demanding as Harvard-Westlake with a sport as demanding as figure skating. Unless, of course, the plan is that JJ will get a tutor. I do kinda want to see Will and JJ together at school, though. Will should be fine; I'm not sure the kind of time committment that HW seems to want from their students would be all that realistic from JJ. They might make an exception, though.
Mark Arbour Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 You mean like how Brad was so on top of what Darius was doing that he didn't know that Darius had grades so bad that he resorted to going to Santa Clara University? They totally allowed Darius to slide. In any event, it WILL be interesting to see how JJ will try and juggle a school as demanding as Harvard-Westlake with a sport as demanding as figure skating. Unless, of course, the plan is that JJ will get a tutor. I do kinda want to see Will and JJ together at school, though. Will should be fine; I'm not sure the kind of time committment that HW seems to want from their students would be all that realistic from JJ. They might make an exception, though. I don't know that they let Darius "slide". It's not like you can be a total slouch and get into SCU. Darius, to me, is the ultimate party boy. He's smart, but not brilliant, and he's into having a good time and enjoying life. I think that he, probably more than his brothers, have interpreted what Tim was talking about. He knows there's no great pressures on him; he doesn't have to eat what he kills. So he can just go through life at his own pace. 1
methodwriter85 Posted September 26, 2011 Author Posted September 26, 2011 (edited) I'm hoping that the coming events of the decade do manage to shake these kids up a bit, especially if/when they have friends who go off to Iraq. At the very least, some of Gathan and Ella's friends are going to go. Since Darius has never met an enemy, I'm betting he'll be friends with at least some of them. It'd be a total zzzz to read about people who live in a bubble where everything's easy and they have nothing to worry about. So what's your thoughts on the JJ situation, Mark? How do you think Jeanine would deal with the situation? Is JJ going to HW using tutors for the 5 or so weeks he misses or is he just going to get tutored? He just might be the first person in his family to get a GED instead of a diploma. LOL. Edited September 26, 2011 by methodwriter85
PrivateTim Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 You mean like how Brad was so on top of what Darius was doing that he didn't know that Darius had grades so bad that he resorted to going to Santa Clara University? They totally allowed Darius to slide. In any event, it WILL be interesting to see how JJ will try and juggle a school as demanding as Harvard-Westlake with a sport as demanding as figure skating. Unless, of course, the plan is that JJ will get a tutor. I do kinda want to see Will and JJ together at school, though. Will should be fine; I'm not sure the kind of time committment that HW seems to want from their students would be all that realistic from JJ. They might make an exception, though. Darius didn't flunk out of high school and his grades couldn't have been that bad if he is going to Santa Clara. The average weighted GPA of the current freshman class is 3.84, the average SAT is in the mid 600's and the average ACT is 28, all in all pretty good. They aren't Ivy League scores or Stanfurd or Berkeley, but with the grades and SATs that got him into Santa Clara would have gotten him easily into the UC system and if he was appointed to the USNA, his grades and test scores would have to have been reasonably high. If he had truly slid, he would be going to JC not a fairly prestigious Catholic university. All the main Catholic universities LMU, USF, SCU, SMU & USD are highly regarded academically.
methodwriter85 Posted September 27, 2011 Author Posted September 27, 2011 (edited) I think we estimated Darius's GPA as being somewhere around the 3.2-3.3 range, which probably would have been acceptable in 2000 since Darius's SAT was high. Plus I'm sure some strings got pulled. The point is that Brad didn't even know what Darius's grades were, which would contradict your idea that the parents would be so on top of what their kids are doing that JJ would never be allowed to slide. Jeanine doesn't even seem to want JJ to attend school so he can pursue the Olympics full-time, and Brad's occupied with Will and Robbie's occupied with work. And none of them seem all that academically pushy with their kids. I think Claire and Jack would be, but not really Brad and Robbie. In Millenum, Jeanine flat-out wanted JJ to drop out of school and focus on his career. I was kinda surprised that Brad and Robbie didn't seem to mind that much, but it kinda fits into their whole "whatever which way they roll" deal they have with their kids. I think if JJ wound up dropping out and getting his GED at 15; it could create some interesting issues with JP, who would likely be pissed at Brad and Jeanine for letting him do it. And I'm sure JJ's getting pressure from his coach to drop school and get a full-time tutor. Edited September 27, 2011 by methodwriter85
PrivateTim Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I think we estimated Darius's GPA as being somewhere around the 3.2-3.3 range, which probably would have been acceptable in 2000 since Darius's SAT was high. Plus I'm sure some strings got pulled. The point is that Brad didn't even know what Darius's grades were, which would contradict your idea that the parents would be so on top of what their kids are doing that JJ would never be allowed to slide. Jeanine doesn't even seem to want JJ to attend school so he can pursue the Olympics full-time, and Brad's occupied with Will and Robbie's occupied with work. And none of them seem all that academically pushy with their kids. I think Claire and Jack would be, but not really Brad and Robbie. In Millenum, Jeanine flat-out wanted JJ to drop out of school and focus on his career. I was kinda surprised that Brad and Robbie didn't seem to mind that much, but it kinda fits into their whole "whatever which way they roll" deal they have with their kids. I think if JJ wound up dropping out and getting his GED at 15; it could create some interesting issues with JP, who would likely be pissed at Brad and Jeanine for letting him do it. And I'm sure JJ's getting pressure from his coach to drop school and get a full-time tutor. Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy....... what are we going to do with you. The "they" in "they watch the kids too closely" is Harvard Westlake, not the parents.
Mark Arbour Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I think we estimated Darius's GPA as being somewhere around the 3.2-3.3 range, which probably would have been acceptable in 2000 since Darius's SAT was high. Plus I'm sure some strings got pulled. The point is that Brad didn't even know what Darius's grades were, which would contradict your idea that the parents would be so on top of what their kids are doing that JJ would never be allowed to slide. Jeanine doesn't even seem to want JJ to attend school so he can pursue the Olympics full-time, and Brad's occupied with Will and Robbie's occupied with work. And none of them seem all that academically pushy with their kids. I think Claire and Jack would be, but not really Brad and Robbie. In Millenum, Jeanine flat-out wanted JJ to drop out of school and focus on his career. I was kinda surprised that Brad and Robbie didn't seem to mind that much, but it kinda fits into their whole "whatever which way they roll" deal they have with their kids. I think if JJ wound up dropping out and getting his GED at 15; it could create some interesting issues with JP, who would likely be pissed at Brad and Jeanine for letting him do it. And I'm sure JJ's getting pressure from his coach to drop school and get a full-time tutor. Brad didn't know what Darius grades were? Did I write that? 1
methodwriter85 Posted September 28, 2011 Author Posted September 28, 2011 (edited) Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy....... what are we going to do with you. The "they" in "they watch the kids too closely" is Harvard Westlake, not the parents. I was aware of that. But then you made the comment about how academically oriented the family is, and that none of them would let JJ slide. I'm saying that it's not a given they'd be watching carefully over JJ's grades, and that it would be an interesting storyline if Brad and Jeanine do get called in by Harvard-Westlake because his grades are starting to slip because his focus is entirely on skating. JJ's looking at missing at a minimum 5 weeks of school during the 2000-2001 school year, and going by what JCashell said, I'm not sure how much that would fly. At the same time, I do like the idea of having Will and JJ go to school together...but I'm not sure how realistic it would be for JJ to actually attend Harvard-Westlake if he's missing 5-6 weeks over the school year. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of arrangement they'd do to make it so that it's okay for him to miss that amount of school. As for JJ's idols, I'm assuming right now it'd be Evengi Plushenko, who didn't seem to fit that much into the academic mold. (Don't quote me on this.) Prolly some other Russian skaters. Daisy? Your take? Edited September 28, 2011 by methodwriter85
PrivateTim Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I was aware of that. But then you made the comment about how academically oriented the family is, and that none of them would let JJ slide. I'm saying that it's not a given they'd be watching carefully over JJ's grades, and that it would be an interesting storyline if Brad and Jeanine do get called in by Harvard-Westlake because his grades are starting to slip because his focus is entirely on skating. Okay, follow the sequence.... H-W alerts Yale grad Brad and Princeton grad Robbie that their son isn't doing well in school. H-W would be talking to Brad and Robbie as the first signs of academic issues long before they could be aware on their own. Mark never wrote what Darius' grades were and we don't know what conversations the dads had with Darius, but it is pretty obvious by where the guys went to school and with the influence of Dr. Crampton that the family is pretty academically oriented. I don't remember where Claire went to school, but she married a Stanford grad, which is more indirect evidence of the academic culture that permeates the clan. We don't know what Darius did in school or what steps were taken to try and keep him focused because they were not important elements in moving the story forward. We do know from all the external factors that the family overall values not just education, but has shown the ability to compete at the highest levels and people who live in that world don't usually just ignore their kids education.
sat8997 Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 Brad didn't know what Darius grades were? Did I write that? Nope.
KYE Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 Brad didn't know what Darius grades were? Did I write that? This is from Chapter 15 of Millennium, the only place I remember Brad and Darius having a conversation about his grades. “Have you thought about where you want to go to college?” I asked. “My grades aren’t as good as they should be,” he said. He didn’t like to do homework and it showed. “My SATs are pretty stout though. I’m thinking of maybe going to Berkeley, or UCLA.” He looked at me nervously. “Is that OK?” “Just because you come from a family of Ivy-Leaguers doesn’t mean you have to go that route. As long as you go to college, I’m fine with wherever you want to go. You should probably spend some time going over the options. You know who would like to do that with you?” “Grand?” he asked. It was funny how they used the same term for JP that we’d used for JP’s father. “He won’t be disappointed I’m not going to Stanford?”
methodwriter85 Posted September 29, 2011 Author Posted September 29, 2011 See, I had read that scene as Brad not knowing what Darius's grades were, until I re-read it again. Whoops. You're still not weighing in on whether or not JJ would actually be a good fit for Harvard-Westlake given the amount of school he needs to miss, Tim. By nature of the smaller time jumps, we have to see more of these guy's school days. Hell, JJ might still be in college right now. Interesting to see how JJ will balance a school like HW with being a professional figure skater.
Matthew k Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) See, I had read that scene as Brad not knowing what Darius's grades were, until I re-read it again. Whoops. You're still not weighing in on whether or not JJ would actually be a good fit for Harvard-Westlake given the amount of school he needs to miss, Tim. By nature of the smaller time jumps, we have to see more of these guy's school days. Hell, JJ might still be in college right now. Interesting to see how JJ will balance a school like HW with being a professional figure skater. Realism is fine, but there is still poetic license. Even if JJ gets great at figure skating and makes or almost makes the Olympics, I don't see him going pro in figure skating. A lot of the guy and gals that do it is because they don't know any different or it is their best prospect for making money, but I think once JJ's competitive days are done, he'll be done with it too. He'll find something else that interests. Maybe as an actor in NYC. Edited September 29, 2011 by Matthew k
methodwriter85 Posted September 30, 2011 Author Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) Realism is fine, but there is still poetic license. Even if JJ gets great at figure skating and makes or almost makes the Olympics, I don't see him going pro in figure skating. A lot of the guy and gals that do it is because they don't know any different or it is their best prospect for making money, but I think once JJ's competitive days are done, he'll be done with it too. He'll find something else that interests. Maybe as an actor in NYC. Right about the poetic license. The drama of JJ and Will interacting in school together seems too good to pass up. I've seen it time and time again- when you've got two siblings in the same grade or just one grade apart, there's a bitchy competitive vibe with one another that you don't see when siblings are farther apart in age. Irish twins are either the best of friends or the worst of enemies. I can see JJ as an actor in New York City, too. It'd be funny if, instead of getting a Manhattan penthouse like you think he would, JJ gets a loft in Williamsburg and becomes a hipster. It's absolutely hilarious whenever I run into people from high school who were clean-cut in high school and now they're totally hipster. They really are the yuppies the 2000's/2010's. Maybe JJ can wind up at Tisch onces he finishes his skating career? It's not like he'd have to worry about paying for it. Edited September 30, 2011 by methodwriter85
PrivateTim Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 Maybe JJ can wind up at Tisch onces he finishes his skating career? It's not like he'd have to worry about paying for it. Or maybe he falls in love with SLC in 2002 and moves there and becomes a Mormon. How would that be for a twist? Or maybe he (or Wade) meets Mitt Romney and becomes a fan/friend. That too could be an interesting story line.
methodwriter85 Posted September 30, 2011 Author Posted September 30, 2011 I DO think it would be interesting to see how Brad would deal with a child who got very religious. Which is actually pretty true for this generation- I've met more than a few Christian-types in my day, and I'm thinking 9/11 played a pretty important factor in getting people to follow religion more. And JJ is in more of a conservative environment with the figure skating community- he certainly would be encouraged to go to church and talk about how God got him through his tough, preemie orphan life.
methodwriter85 Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 (edited) Or maybe he falls in love with SLC in 2002 and moves there and becomes a Mormon. How would that be for a twist? Or maybe he (or Wade) meets Mitt Romney and becomes a fan/friend. That too could be an interesting story line. On the other hand, I can't see Mark ever having a lead protagonist who was Mormon. Maybe a devout Episcopalian, but not Mormon given their stance on homosexuality. So maybe JJ flirts with Mormonism for a bit in 2002 but falls out of it by the time he's ready for his own story in 2006. We might not even follow 2002, so who knows? I would guess Mark is going to skip over 2002 once we have the 9/11 story and head straight into 2003 and the Iraq War. Makes the most sense. 2002 was the year of Enron, and we've already done corporate intrigue with Millennium. There could be the D.C. sniper, but I don't think that's enough to base a story around. And JJ isn't actually going to those Olympics, at least as a competitor. Edited October 10, 2011 by methodwriter85
Mark Arbour Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 I've written all kinds of kink, from e-stim to fisting, but I don't think I can do Mormon. That's just too out there for me.
methodwriter85 Posted October 11, 2011 Author Posted October 11, 2011 (edited) I've written all kinds of kink, from e-stim to fisting, but I don't think I can do Mormon. That's just too out there for me. I know you too well. JJ can just say he's Methodist or something when he starts wearing his cross to interviews and talks about how his Uncle adopted him as an orphan and Christianity gave him the strength to pursue a career... Of course, he'll probably also plug Students Against Drunk Driving. It'd make sense for that to be his volunteer work. According to Daisy, they'd love that. Edited October 11, 2011 by methodwriter85
PrivateTim Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 I've written all kinds of kink, from e-stim to fisting, but I don't think I can do Mormon. That's just too out there for me. Oh what, you never saw Latter Days? BYU! BYU! where the girls are girls and the boys are too.
methodwriter85 Posted October 16, 2011 Author Posted October 16, 2011 (edited) Simply put, yes. HW is pretty strict when it comes to letting students take time off, for any reason. I know for a fact that they do not allow students to pursue acting et c. professionally—one of my friends attempted to do it and it was an uphill battle—but I'm not sure how that would apply to sports. HW is very proud of the education they give their students, and anything getting in the way of that is an issue. That said, for someone who is recognized as being a gifted athlete / artist like JJ, they might make an exception. They did have an equestrian team, which was a way of allowing kids who rode semi-professionally to continue to do so while affiliated with the school (don't think that we all went to equestrian matches or anything, football and basketball were much bigger deals). Maybe they would start a figure-skating team just for him? You were not kidding. I'm reading the HW middle school handbook online. Therefore, we strongly discourage family trips that result in students missing school. Such absences undermine the ethos of commitment and disadvantage the student whose work is interrupted. Even if the school has been notified in advance of an absence for a family trip, the days missed are unexcused. Teachers are under no obligation to help a student make up missed work under these circumstances. The JJ situation seems murkier. It looks like missing school for school-sponsored athletic competitions is okay, but not if it's not school-sponsored. My guess would be that, for the 5 or so non concurrent weeks that JJ misses, JJ would hire a tutor who traveled with him and worked in tandem with his teachers, who would then fax the assignments to teachers. If you wanna go creative, they COULD buy a cam and JJ could conference with each of his teachers online. Edited October 16, 2011 by methodwriter85
PrivateTim Posted November 13, 2011 Posted November 13, 2011 From yesterdays Newport Harbor victory over the Wolverines.
methodwriter85 Posted December 29, 2011 Author Posted December 29, 2011 (edited) Simply put, yes. HW is pretty strict when it comes to letting students take time off, for any reason. I know for a fact that they do not allow students to pursue acting et c. professionally—one of my friends attempted to do it and it was an uphill battle—but I'm not sure how that would apply to sports. HW is very proud of the education they give their students, and anything getting in the way of that is an issue. That said, for someone who is recognized as being a gifted athlete / artist like JJ, they might make an exception. They did have an equestrian team, which was a way of allowing kids who rode semi-professionally to continue to do so while affiliated with the school (don't think that we all went to equestrian matches or anything, football and basketball were much bigger deals). Maybe they would start a figure-skating team just for him? I brought this quote back up because Cent over in the Paternity thread had the idea about Ryan Grafton maybe getting into modeling or t.v. acting, and this is what I came back to. Here's the interesting thing, though. HW back in the early '90's did seem to let their students act professionally- I know Tori Spelling got her GED but still attended HW and graduated in 1991 while doing Bev Hills 90210, and Danica McKellar was another alumni who acted while going to the school. My guess is that somewhere in the '90s, HW got increasingly against letting their students take time off for things like acting, and that's when they built it into their attendance codes that acting could no longer be used as an excuse for an absence. It's written in the code as "missing school to work professionally". The Crampton-Schluter clans are too academically oriented to allow JJ to just slide. Also, all the role models JJ would have had, Kristi, Johnny, Michael, Tim and Todd were mostly honor students in their high schools and several went on to very prestigious colleges. People tend to conform to their surroundings. I brought this back up because I realized that Tim referred to University of Delaware as one of the "very prestigious colleges" that figure skaters have gone to. UD! UD! Woo-hoo!!! We're no longer a party school- we're a public Ivy like UVA now! (Okay, I'm just being facetious now.) Seriously though, it would be hilarious to watch JJ and JW face off against each other at good ol' Fred Rust Ice Arena. The fur would just fly. Back to the issue of JJ and school absences, it looks like JJ would have to sign an Independent Study Contract, but it still seems like him missing so much school is going to be a big deal unless Brad negotiates a major exception to the rules. Finally, yes people conform to their surrounding, but don't you know that the Cramptons/Schluters are complete avant-garde rebels who flaunt the rules at every turn? JJ could totally rebel against his surroundings. That's just how that family rolls, being so "ahead of the curve" in all aspects of social and generational trends.*winks at Westie* Edited December 29, 2011 by methodwriter85
methodwriter85 Posted February 3, 2012 Author Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) OMFG, I'm so excited!!!! A HW promo video from 2000! Some lessons from this: -Will and JJ seriously need more Asian friends -Spaghetti strap tank tops and capri pants on girls -Will should be in a drawing class; I think JJ would join up with drama -Cargo pants and ringer t-shirts on guys. And don't forget the chokers. Man, I am so stoked. Edited February 3, 2012 by methodwriter85
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