It Is Truly an Honor: A Comment on National Honor Society
Lexington High School has long been defined by academic rigor and its competitive climate. It has a reputation for creating stress—you can find students pulling all-nighters in an attempt to finish their homework for their taxing course load while balancing time consuming extracurricular activities. We tend to chalk this up to LHS’s inherent nature. We make it seem inevitable. We say, “This stress is a product of LHS’s demanding academic standards and structure.” But this is only half true.
Yes, you can credit aspects of our school’s academically driven culture to its bureaucratic structure, but in reality, it is a manifestation of the student body and their values. Your future college correlates with status, and status trumps all. When students are in a constant race to the top, their peers transform into bloodthirsty hounds, dividing the student body: you are competitors eyeing the same prize. The club system, for example, nurtures this spirit. We have dozens of clubs geared towards community service, the arts, writing, and sports. Clubs have evolved from being places to explore your interests to a title on your Common App. There always seems to be an ulterior motive when it comes to student organizations in LHS, and this expands beyond clubs, thus the creation of honor societies.
The National Honor Society, known as NHS, is a direct outcome of this climate. Essentially, you are awarded the opportunity to be in the NHS, a title which enables you to participate in different community service projects. Suddenly, you are transformed into a good sumaritan, a philanthropist for your community because you reposted a story for an event. But, never forget, not everyone can become the next Melinda Gates for their town—the title has to be exclusive in some way, otherwise what is the point? NHS is offered to more than three quarters of the student body, and a select “few” are chosen to represent the forefront of the community service “movement” in Lexington.
How do they filter through students to determine who is eligible for such an outstanding title, you ask? Well, they evaluate each student’s ability to represent the NHS’s four pillars: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. What does the ideal candidate look like? Let’s name this candidate Emily and assess her ability to demonstrate these pillars.
Scholarship: To represent this value, you prioritize your academics, taking advantage of out of school resources and maximizing the opportunities you are given to advance your learning experience. Does Emily do this? Well, Emily takes a 28 credit schedule. This gives her almost 5 free blocks a week. During these free blocks, Emily walks to Cary library (surely she deserves points for making a strenuous journey from the high school to the town library, perseverance at its finest) where she opens her mind to new perspectives in the Teen room, learning a variety of new subjects, from the Wifi password to undermining the pay to print system. Seems like she checks off this box!
Service: The service element is one of the most important on the list. After all, the NHS is a community service organization with the primary intent of feeding the starving mouths in Lexington and tutoring students because LHS always seems to be lacking on peer-to-peer tutoring services. Emily regularly volunteers for the communities around her. In the summer, she goes on mission trips to underdeveloped places. It opens her eyes to the atrocities abroad, and she works intensely to bring peace to these nations. She fights for climate change, designing posters and signs to hang—a next Greta Thunburg for sure. Afterwards, she gets to know the people and their livelihoods firsthand, kayaking and swimming in the local creeks and rivers. Emily is an activist and community service symbol.
Leadership: Being in the NHS in itself puts you in a position of status in the community service hierarchy at LHS. NHS even has leadership positions available within the organization. Students can participate in the council, in addition to being elected as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Is Emily fit to lead her peers to success? Well, Emily, last name Amenzilivia, has forever been at the front of the line. Since elementary school, she has guided her peers from class to class, mastering the route from gym to art class. She is quick to adapt as leader, making turns and changing direction when she notices a spilled milk carton on the floor, or sees another line of students coming her way: she quickly changes path, avoiding the rival class. Even in high school, she takes leadership with her younger peers, giving them advice during I-blocks and lunches about friend troubles and the stresses of high school: a perfect peer mentor, is she not?
Character: You are a character to be around. A treat of a person. The epitome of happiness, perseverance, honesty and respect. You must be Charlie Brown, Olaf, Giselle, and Goofy all in one. You see the glass as half full, and actively try to make the world a better place through your optimistic spirit and personality. Emily is confident in her ability to represent this value. She holds the door for her teachers, sometimes her peers as well (after all, Dartmouth does require a peer recommendation as a supplement). Her chromebook cover is crowded with social justice stickers, while her backpack has dozens of pins: a real activist that Emily.
Perhaps you see the trend. The application process tests your ability to fit these values, and almost any experience can be molded to demonstrate the 4 pillars.
Once accepted to this “coveted” society, you are invited to an “induction ceremony” to be appointed into the NHS. An inauguration almost. You become a shining knight. It all comes back to status: you are awarded with enormous responsibility, and more importantly, honor.
Congratulations Emily Amenzilivia, you are the best of the best. You are the knight in shining armor that will rescue Lexington from chaos, a “service hero” for all. What would we do without you?
by Anonymous