"In spite of holidays when I was free to visit London theatres and explore the countryside, I spent four very miserable years as a colonial at an English school"
- Patrick White
About this Quote
This quote by Patrick White reflects on his experience of being a colonial pupil at an English college. In spite of the holidays which allowed him to discover London theaters and the countryside, he still located his 4 years at the school to be really unpleasant. This recommends that the institution atmosphere was not for his happiness, which the vacations were not enough to offset the absence of delight he felt while attending the school. It is most likely that the college was not inviting to early american trainees, and that Patrick White felt isolated and also out of place. This quote highlights the difficulties of being a colonial trainee in an English school, and the relevance of producing a comprehensive and helpful environment for all pupils.
"Now we maintain that we cannot be afford to be concerned about 6 percent of the children in this country, black children, who you allow to come into white schools. We have 94 percent who still live in shacks. We are going to be concerned about those 94 percent"
"As we read the school reports on our children, we realize a sense of relief that can rise to delight that thank Heaven nobody is reporting in this fashion on us"
"Did you know that nearly one in three children live apart from their biological dads? Those kids are two to three times more likely to grow up in poverty, to suffer in school, and to have health and behavioral problems"
"I wanted to escape so badly. But of course I knew I couldn't just give up and leave school. It was only when I heard my mom's voice that I came out of my hiding place"