NationStates Jolt Archive

I know there are a few people from CTYI here, so you can excuse me for a second while I explain to people who are wondering what I'm on about.
CTYI is the Irish Centre for Talented Youth. It was set up in 1994. A similar service runs in other countries, including the USA and Spain. It takes place in Dublin City University. Basically, it's where smart kids between the ages of 12 and 16 go to talk about Monty Python and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... and possibly learn something too. It runs for three weeks in June, and another 3 weeks in July.
After that explanation, let me just ask all CTYIers to come forward (I include past students in that), so that we can talk about...things. And don't pretend you're not there, as I know of at least four people from CTYI on Nationstates.

Not CTY-I, sorry. But I did attend CTY over here in the states for many years (the Lancaster site, based at Franklin & Marshall). Good times, good times. I'm glad to see that you CTY-Iers also share our respect for Douglas Adams and the Pythons.

Is "American Pie" one of the traditions there as well?
(note to others reading this - it's the song I'm referring to, not the appallingly awful movie)

Well....

My relationship with CTY (America) is as follows:

I qualified, but never attended because my parents did not want to pay for it.

Years later, I attended a college that hosted the program, and the kids were running around my lounge while I was trying to study. At some point their overzealous instructors decided that I was some sort of threat to their purity, and posted signs all around the lounge advising their students: "Do not talk to Elric." Yes, they named me personally.

Currently, my girlfriend is teaching one of their English courses. Actually, today is her last day... and I know she is rushing to visit me as soon as she can get the hell out of there. (Actually, she came home every weekend.) They are really miserable to their instructors... and it is NOT worth the money. It seems like it will be, until you get there and find out that in addition to teaching for nine hours a day, you also have "chores" and ceaseless meetings.

Most of their instructors, it seems, are grad-school drop-outs with mild emotional problems. She is one of only two this session who are actually working on Ph.D.s ... and she always has stories to tell me about the insecurities of high school teachers who have "something to prove."

Whatever... Apparently they offer a session in Hawaii, so the two of us are planning to apply next year. We have to pay for plane fare, but that's about it... and we hardly got to see anything last time we were there. At least this would give us some time to enjoy it, even if it's only on the weekends. :)

Wow, that's a side of CTY I never saw.

Most of the instructors I had seemed to be dedicated, enthusiastic, and cheerful (with one notable exception). I think that the tenor and quality of CTY depends, to a very large extent, on the site you attend (with the Johns Hopkins site being considered "miserable" by many, and the F&M and Dickinson sites being viewed in a much more positive light).

The CTYI instructors, in my experience, are dedicated, hardworking people who genuinely want people to learn. My brother was a TA this year, and since all the instructors seem to be like them, they're like grown up versions of the students (since some of them, including my brother, are former students). In other words, they're funny, smart, friendly and very, very strange. I could give examples, but I don't have much time. I can confirm though, that we do indeed share an obsession with American Pie, including made up lyrics.