TJ alumni FB thread on what graduates actually do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish certain parents could see an amazing, nearly 800-comment long FB thread of the non-STEM things that TJ alums are doing with their lives. So many people have rejected money and stereotypical “success” in favor of careers that make them happy. It’s pretty eye-opening.

Why do you care what others think of your beloved TJ so much? Why not just revel in the fact that your kid goes and keep quiet? We really need a new thread on this?

OP here. I’m actually an alum, which is why I belong to the TJ alumni FB group and saw the discussion. My kids are far too young for TJ and I’m not remotely invested in whether they apply in ten years or not. I started this thread because I was inspired by the choices people have made and the creative ways they are using their God-given talents. The FB thread happened to focus on non-STEM careers, which I thought was an interesting twist. I also hoped that some local alumni might chime in and share the stories they shared on FB so parents could see the range of experiences.

You will only get mostly TJ bashers.

[Anonymous]

Someone who has not attended or had a kid at TJ has no basis for concluding that kids or parents think of people as machines there. In fact, I find it’s quite the opposite. But many of the kids do think of themselves as able to do almost anything, or at least to theoretically understand how to to anything, so they feel very free to try new things — like play instruments, try playing football, learn a new language, sing in the school musical, learn about neuropsych, build a car, try to cure a disease, whatever. And sometimes they fail, but sometimes they don’t. You’d have to actually be close to someone from there to understand, IMO. It’s a lot more like a supportive college environment than high school