Gamboge Symbolism In Schools Essay

Something that distinguishes the American educational system from any other in the world is its school pride. Not only in universities and colleges but also in high schools, and even middle school students these days are beginning to have a sense of pride in their schools. This creates an atmosphere of community in schools; it brings all different kinds of students together, even if otherwise they wouldn’t. A very large part of this sense of community is a school’s colors; they are incredibly valuable to the school as they represent a school’s values such as integrity or perseverance for example, while distinguishing them from other schools. A prime example of this is Duke University. When Duke was establishing itself as a top-tier university …show more content…
Gamboge is the traditional color of the Theravada Buddhist monks, a group to whom meditation and calm is extremely important. This reference paired with the calmer nature of the color itself hammers in the message for students to relax and be more thoughtful, a useful message to send considering the heavy push for AP at this institution in recent years. The strategy of extracting the color also carries heavy symbolism for students, as it can only be taken from the resin of a tree that must have matured for at least 10 years, anything younger is not useful. This is symbolic of students’ journeys coming into ETHS, as they’ve had 10 years to mature it is now ETHS’ job to find their strengths and transform them into something that can be useful for society. Though the symbolism might not be picked up on by everyone without an explanation, it is much better for the school to put the effort forth rather than settle for a color with no symbolism representing it at all. Being one of the best schools in the state it is important we set an example by having more reasons for the colors we have than merely