I have so many choices for the letter B when it comes to my hometown, St Louis.
There is Baseball.
There is the BREWERY, Anheuser Busch,
There is Busch Stadium and the Pope's visit
There is Busch Stadium and the Beatles visit in August, 1966
There are the bugs in the summer,
Biking trails
The Missouri bluffs--but the B I chose is the BASIC QUESTION.
This BASIC QUESTION sets St Louis apart from anyplace else I have ever lived. (Read to the end--there is a SueGrimes interesting twist!!)
Whenever one St Louisan meets another St Louisan--no matter where in the whole world that meeting may take place-- the FIRST question that is asked is the basic question: SO, WHERE'D YOU GO TO HIGHSCHOOL?? If you don't believe me, Google that question and see what comes up near the top of the search result!!Basic Question--The Question Researched
For some reason, the answer to that question reveals an awful lot about a St Louisan and predicts his/her behavior, likes, dislikes and general personality, whether he/she was a public school kid or private school kid, what part of the city he/she grew up in, and of course, whoever else he/she may know. Yes, the basic question and its specific answer really defines us St Louisans, one to another.
There must be a reasonable explanation for the fascination with highschool here in St Louis--a look at history--found this:
- Job resumes in Germany are different from American resumes in one fundamental respect. German resumes begin with education, specifically referencing SECONDARY schools.
- In America, education is usually listed last, if at all.
- In Germany, the name and type of the secondary school serves much the same function as the type and name of business schools in America--and serves as a shorthand for job screening.
- German companies make assumptions about applicants based on the secondary schools attended.
- St Louis has a strong German heritage and (perhaps this explains why St Louis also has) exceptional highschools.
Basic Question--The Answer
The answer to this basic question for me is NERINX HALL in Webster Groves, a suburb of St Louis. It was a great place to go and is a great place to be from. So when asked the BASIC QUESTION--I am always proud to answer Nerinx Hall.
Nerinx Hall is strong in math, science and English as well as foreign language instruction--but so are many other St Louis highschools.
What Nerinx Hall excels in is the love and appreciation and expression of the arts. Nerinx puts on the best highschool musicals, horse shows and fashion shows, had great art classes--and encouraged creative expression in all aspects of the highschool experience, which for most of us, passed too fast.
In 1969, Nerinx began the tradition of offering a Senior Class Cultural Trip to New York City. Influenced by the experience of my senior highschool trip, I am now living in New York City area. I love all the cultural opportunities here but it is the Broadway musicals I just absolutely adore.
Nerinx Hall now boasts a state of the art theater and if I ever hit it rich, I am donating the money for a "Broadway-bright" marquis for the theater at Nerinx Hall.
I did not have a daughter to attend Nerinx Hall, but I did have a son who played viola in the pit during their highschool musicals. A Nerinx Hall junior agreed to be his date to his senior prom. He still talks about how fun that prom was---so, all in all I cannot complain.
Basic Question--The Surprise Twist
Several years after graduating, I met someone from St Louis who asked me the BASIC QUESTION. He was from Chaminade--a St Louis boys' private schooI. I answered "Nerinx Hall, the school that graduates women leaders" He responded, "You may say that--but we knew Nerinx Hall as the highschool with the best kissers!!"
HA!!! How great is that?
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