Category: Tyler Smith

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smith, tyler1Hello, my name is Tyler Smith, and I’m a Gatton Academy senior from Lexington, Kentucky. I attended the Liberal Arts Academy at Henry Clay High School for my freshman and sophomore year, and although I was offered many great opportunities while at that school, I have enjoyed my time at Gatton much more.

During my junior year I was exposed to computer science, and now, as far as academics go, I am a math and CS oriented kid. Like many other students my age, I’m not quite sure what I want to do with my life yet, but as of right now, I am fairly certain I’ll go into some field of engineering. Aside from academics, my interests include: reading, basketball, ultimate frisbee (the staple of Gatton athletics), lacrosse, hiking, volleyball, kayaking, and canoeing. I am also an avid listener of rap music, and enjoy listening to a diverse group of styles, ranging from east coast underground to west coast realism.

I am looking forward to the upcoming year as I get some exposure into the fields of physics and discrete mathematics. It’s crazy to look back and think about how I was in the exact same situation, except for housing of course, that our very own juniors are experiencing at this moment. I remember how nervous I was, entering the whole new world that was the “Gatton Academy,” and I remember our class’s own GROWeek (although we knew it as Adventure Week) and how quickly we all seemed to get adjusted to life at the Academy. As we move forward in the year, I am excited to get to know more and more of our dauntingly large junior class. Overall, I am excited for the new year and all of the new experiences it may bring.

smith, tyler1By: Tyler Smith

This morning we departed from the Harlaxton Manor to travel to Eastwood, England to visit the birthplace of D.H. Lawrence. Lawrence is a realistic fiction writer from the early 1900’s who writes about the darker, more scandalous side of life. Growing up in the coal-mining town of Eastwood, he was provided with a great amount of inspiration from the rugged and distinct characters he was surrounded by. His mother was an intelligent house-wife, very intent on educating her children, and his father was a common coal-miner, hard-working and simple in lifestyle.

13912431_10102805837636092_2808164718705943157_n It was an amazing experience to see the town D.H. Lawrence grew up in as it gave me a lot of insight on what went into the novels he wrote. Like many other novelists, D.H. Lawrence wrote about what he knew, and for him, it was the life of coal-miners. One of his novels, Sons and Lovers (a novel I recently acquired and have enjoyed), is simply an autobiographical story about himself and his family with a slight fictional twist. Another piece of his work, this time a short story titled “The Odour of Chrysanthemums,” details the real story of his uncle’s death in a coal mining accident and the response of his aunt, again, with a slight fictional twist. Lawrence combined his real world experiences and dark yet engaging writing to create a number of different captivating novels and short stories, which I myself have come to greatly enjoy.

13903269_10102805837651062_1823196503508925093_nI learned all of this information about Lawrence from the museum located at Lawrence’s birthplace, and aside from taking in all this knowledge, I was also able to purchase a copy of Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, for a mere two and a half pounds, and look upon the beautiful country side that surrounded the small community of houses. It was an amazing trip, and one of my favorite we’ve taken while in England. I am glad I was able to learn so much about an author that is quickly becoming one of my favorites, and I’m glad the academy chose this as one of the stops. I believe next year’s students will enjoy this trip as much as I did.

smith, tyler1By: Tyler Smith

I am incredibly thankful to the Gatton Academy for giving me this opportunity to study abroad. Although I have only been in London for a few days, a mere fraction of the full trip, I can already tell that this trip will be a great experience.

One of the best parts about this trip is the mixture of class and travel. We are given the opportunity to go out into the world and actually SEE the monuments and landmarks we are learning about, instead of simply reading about them. This is a much better way to learn the culture and history of classic literature as we can fully grasp how monumental certain landmarks are.

A great example of this is how we traveled to Jane Austen’s house. There we actually got to see where and how she lived, giving us a better understanding of what went into her writing process and why she actually wrote her novels more than if we had simply learned about it in the traditional classroom setting.

In my free time, I have largely ventured across London, seeing many of the great monuments, such as Big Ben, the British Museum, and the National Gallery. My favorite landmark that I have seen on this trip so would have to be the London Eye on the edge of the Thames River. It is not the London Eye in itself that was so impressive, but rather the scenery that surrounded it. The area is booming both with people and culture, and it is also situated between two foot bridges that when crossed allow you to take in an amazing, breath-taking view of London with all of its landmarks artfully protruding from the city’s skyline. It is by far my most favorite view I have seen on this trip, and its true beauty is not comparable to any photo.

Again, I would like to thank the Gatton Academy for giving me this opportunity as London has been an amazing place to see, and this trip has actually made me excited to study literature. Even only being nine days into the trip I can say that this has been one of the most influential events on my understanding of literature and writing as a whole.