Should you go to LACHSA

Answer 1

As a recent graduate from LACHSA, I must say that one should very seriously evaluate the pros and cons before attending such institution. Although I admit that LACHSA has been a life changing 4 years, I cannot say that all aspects of LACHSA has shaped me for the better.

True, it has been a major plus to be involving myself in my art disapline everyday day. As a classical musician, I have been exposed to major chucks of the orchestral and chamber repertoire, and I have made met many gifted musicians that helped me build a strong musical social web that might prove to be of use later in my musical career. But I do not see why these attributes of LACHSA are deemed exclusive to LACHSA; there are countless music organizations that help young musicians get a taste of the professional world in most larger cites; namely in LA, kids have access to Colburn, YMF, JCM, Pasadena, South Bay, Claremont, AYS, etc etc etc.

I'm sure this clause applies to all the other art disaplines.

One major downfall I faced at LACHSA was its poor academic system. I can only count 4 classes over the course of 4 years at LACHSA that have succeeded to nourish my mind; all my other classes have only taught me to be good at "working the system." With that in regard, I had significantly more time to invest in my art disapline because I could ignore my academic duties, but at the same time, I felt that countless doors have been closed to me due to the lack of encouragement in the academics. Oh and ditching class is really easy. Just putting that in there.

To add one more important variable, LACHSA did provide a nourishing social environment. LACHSA brings in all kinds of kids, from across the county, thus creating a very diversified pool of young individuals. It has been an interesting experience growing with such different, yet similar in regards to passion, peers and I feel that I do have a more balanced outlook on social standards and cultures because of the exposure to such a wide range. In general, I do feel the social culture of LACHSA to be much more entralling than most high schools.

This all being said, the answer is not so cookie-cutter cut. It depends on where you're standing in not only your artistic identity, but your identity as a scholar and your identity as a human. In every aspect, LACHSA can make or brake you.

As an aside from the major chuck of my response, I must say that I have not been pleased with the direction LACHSA has been moving towards over the last four years while I was a student. I entered at what I consider the "peak" of LACHSA, or at least from what I saw through my scope of vision. The orchestra sounded phenomenal, all other departments continued to amaze me, the academics were... ehh, and the social climate and the students were extremely insightful and entralling. But as I progressed through the grades, I noticed a dulling effect in all of these catagories. The standard in the arts dropped slightly, the academics.. we're taken more seriously, making them less germane to LACHSA tradition, but still did not suffice for an eager mind, and the social climate became more and more... normal. In essence, I feel as though LACHSA is becoming a normal high school.

But then again, that could just be a reflection of my own personal cynicism, and a flaw in my perception since I changed and grew over the past four years.

So, Iapologize for the convoluted response, but here's a retired LACHSA student's view on the school. Although the answer might have a dark tone to it, I do admit it was a lot of fun. Plus, I'm going to college for music, and LACHSA played a big chunk in getting me into the next ballpark.