CTY
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
CTY, the Center (sorry, I'm American) for Talented Youth, is a program created by Johns Hopkins University to identify and cultivate intelligence in teens. They begin by finding students in the 98th percentile in their national standardized test scores. They then invite these students to take the SATs (Schoolastic Aptitude Tests). If a student scores high enough they are eligible to attend a summer academic camp, where they take a course of their choosing.
I have attended CTY for two years, and will for another two, and it is the greatest place on Earth. The people are all loud, open, accepting, and willing to try new things. There, unlike anywhere else in the world to my knowlege, there is no one to be afraid of. People like me can exhist without fear of ridicule, anger, hate, or even rivalry. We don't compete to be the smartest. We work together to become the most powerful group of people ever. At CTY, inteligence is a sideshow. We're there for the people and the life. There, we're free.
There are more traditions within CTY than I have seen anywhere else in my life.
On the last day at CTY, everyone gets up at 5:00 AM and goes outside for Passion Fruit. There, each person makes a toast. Adressing the circle of two hundred friends, we show the world what we feel. Here's my last toast.
"Last night, I got some terrible news. My Great Uncle Nick has died. My mother gave me a choice. She said I could either have her pick me up early in the morning and take me to his funeral, or I could stay here and have my godmother pick me up at one. I didn't even have to think about the answer. I stayed here. And as I was trying to get to sleep that night, I realized something. I didn't even have to think about a decision between the funeral of one of my favorite people in the world, and talking to you people. I think that says something about us. About how great we are, and how great this place is," I raised my bottle of Snapple Sky into the air, "So I toast to all of us!"
