December 2023
Dear Friend of Golden View Classical Academy,
Do you know what a senior at Golden View is like? We often talk about a classical education “improving hearts,” and it is sometimes unclear what that could mean. I think if you were to speak with a senior at Golden View, it would become clear, but absent that, here is a story to bring it into focus.
I am advising a student on her thesis, and she is working through Lincoln’s statesmanship. To frame it, this means she is trying to understand perhaps the greatest American, and perhaps even one of the greatest men of the West. It’s one thing to study something historically, of course, but she is trying to understand how Lincoln’s example can be a metric, or even a guide, for someone who wants to live a good life. She isn’t arguing that we need to be statesmen of the highest caliber to do this, but we need to have a theater for action in which we voluntarily take on a moral responsibility, perhaps the largest one our shoulders can bear. We won’t save a union, maybe, but we may save something else that is just as dear to those who are a part of it - maybe a friendship or a marriage or a class, or even something more.
But here’s the funny thing. After all of her work on this very challenging and deep project, she came to me and said “it’s not sufficient.” She meant that something about the topic didn’t stir her soul, the poetic side of her soul. Lincoln is great and all that, but what about Shakespeare? It’s like going to a 2-star Michelin restaurant and being upset it isn’t 3 stars.
Think about that for a second. Lincoln and his actions, freeing slaves and saving the principle of free government, weren’t deep enough in the human soul to really convince her she was walking down the right path in her pursuit of an answer to the question - what is a good life? The time seniors spend on this question is limited, and as the end of the semester approaches and their last Christmas or other holiday at home becomes a reality, there is a tendency to reconsider and re-evaluate. Time becomes valuable.
But what I learned about her soul bears on this phrase “improving hearts.” This student, Grace, started at Golden View as a 4th Grader, in the first year of the school. Over the course of the next 8, going on 9, years, she has worked to train her mind and improve her heart, to the point that the greatest American is not quite enough compared to the greatest poet. And she’s had enough exposure to both to know the difference, to know the difference matters, and to know she should pursue the best. I’ll try and convince her that Lincoln is the best, but that doesn’t really matter. She’ll pursue whichever, and in whichever way, she thinks answers to the longing in her soul to live a good life.
So there’s a senior for you. A special one, to be sure, but still, the kind of person who has taken to classical education and has allowed herself to be improved by it. And I’m thankful to say that I, that we, have been improved as well in the encounter.
And she also plays a mean oboe.
Sincerely,
Dr. Garrow
Principal, Golden View Classical Academy
