Do Not Trust Appearances: My Visit To Deep Springs College

When You Look Beyond The Surface...

Of anyone, whether it be a
politician or professor, or even
something like a prestigious
college or business, one
always finds a reason not to be
intimidated.
Back In The Late 80’s, I Visited Deep Springs College In A Desert
A Few Hours Outside Of Las Vegas.

• It boasted the highest SAT scores in the

nation

• It had 25 students in the entire school.

•Tuition was free.

Deep Springs is a two-year school.

Students from there go on to transfer to
great universities like Harvard, Yale, and
Caltech.
Deep Springs Believes…

That manual labor and political

deliberation are important aspects of a
complete education in liberal arts.
•Tuition is free at Deep
Springs.

•The only requirement is that

one must perform manual
labor on a farm while
Attending
attending Deep Springs
the college.
sounded like an incredible
experience to me.
Before Visiting The School I Had To Write More Than 50 Pages
Worth Of Essays.

Though I did not understand

the topic fully, the people at
the school thought my ideas
were groundbreaking. A
couple of times I even
encountered the guys there
discussing the theory I had
come up with.
As A High School Senior, I Was Very Excited To Visit Deep
Springs College.
I met a cowboy on the bus ride
out to the college.

“Where are you headed?” He

asked. I was wearing a blazer
and khakis. I stuck out like a sore
thumb.
“I know where you’re going.” He
said jokingly. “You’re going to a
rodeo college.”
When I Arrived, The Campus Was Very Dark.

It was nothing but a few buildings in the middle

of the desert. I was quickly led to a bed where I
had no trouble falling asleep.
I Was Woken Up At 7:00 And Directed To The Showers.

Shortly after, I was taken to the “work site” in

a small pick up truck. My driver told me how
much he enjoyed my essay on subliminal
criminal training…

Then he dropped me off in the middle of the

road and told me to get digging. I got the
impression that a large part of my admission
would be based on my ability to partake in
manual labor.
When It Was Finally Time For Lunch…

I had walked in on an argument

the other students were having.
They were deciding whether or
not they should allow a fellow
student to go visit his girlfriend
for a few days.

If he left, he would be missing

out on various chores. This would
be unfair to the other students.
I Realized That I Would Not Ever Again Enjoy This Amount Of
Oversight In My Life.

• These students were closely

micromanaging one another.

• It seemed as though these guys had

little say over their own lives

•Most of the kids I ended up meeting

seemed fairly withdrawn and shy.
On My Last Day At Deep Springs, I Had An Interview With The
Admissions Committee.

I was told to bring the essays I had written

and to review them before I interviewed with
the admissions committee.

When I entered the interview room, I realized

that the admissions committee turned out to
be the school’s 25-man student body.
“Have You Ever Ready Any Books By Carl Jung,” One Student
Asked Me.

I had used a significant quote from

Jung in one of my essays. The quote
served as a basis for my entire essay.

“No, I’ve never read a single thing

by him,” I said.

“Then how can you possibly have a

large quote from him in your essay,
base an essay around his teachings
and also lead us to believe that you
know what you are talking about?”
This Was A Very Good Point.

The rest of the interview seemed

to carry on similarly.

“Did you like the food?,” one guy

asked me.

I did not realize it immediately, but

he was being completely rude. All
of the other students looked at
each other, snickering and smiling.
My Final Thoughts About Deep Springs Were:

•Because I did not have perfect

SAT scores.

•Because I was not extremely

intellectual.

•Because I was more of an

athletic type, than an
academic…

I did not fit in.

On The Drive Back To The Bus Station, I Noticed Something
Strange About The Boy Who Drove Me.

He had just taken a shower and

was obviously wearing cologne.
There was a brothel adjacent to
the bus station and I reasoned that
his shower and cologne usage
were directly related.

This seemed odd to me, because I

had gotten the impression that the
boys at Deep Springs were
distinctly moral individuals.
I Asked Him What He Thought About The Brothel.

He went into a speech describing

how prostitution was evil and that it
exploited women.

When we arrived to the bus station,

I had to convince him to go into the
brothel with me so that we could
enjoy a cup of coffee. He argued
with me, stating that buying coffee
there was supporting prostitution,
but eventually came in with me.
When We Were Inside, A Young Woman Came Up To My Friend
And Said…

“Bulldog!” She ran over to him

and gave him a hug. “You look
so cute with your new haircut.”

Eventually they began talking

as though I was not even there.
An Older Woman Served Us Coffees, Striking Up A Conversation
With Us.
“You boys must be from Deep
Springs,” she said. “I just got a
letter from their headmaster
saying that my girls had infected
a bunch of their boys with
sexually transmitted diseases. I
have a mind to call my lawyer.
It’s just not true. My girls are
clean. They are inspected by a
doctor.”
She Reasoned That One Of The Boys Probably Got A Disease
From His Girlfriend…

And later, shared it with the

other boys at the school.

“Who knows what goes on

there,” she said. “The kids come
here all the time, but they did
not get their sex infections
here.”
Over The Years, I Have Read About One Sex Scandal Or Another,
Involving Seemingly Trustworthy Persons.

There was Elliot Spitzer, Larry

Craig, and former President Bill
Clinton.

I have learned that once you

scratch beneath the surface,
most people who represent
great morals in our society, do
not actually stand for what they
say or represent that they do.
When I Graduated From The University Of Virginia, Jesse Jackson
Gave The Commencement Speech.

The speech was entitled “Can

You Be Trusted?”

He must have repeated the

phrased “can you be trusted”
more than a 100 times.

About five years later, I read a huge

story about Jackson and an extra-
marital affair he had.

Not even Jackson could be “trusted”

(at least not by his wife).
I Have Met Many Men Who Appeared To Be Powerful
Businessmen…

That were sent to prison.

I have seen one

example after
another of this.
Ultimately, Deep Springs Taught Me This:

Do not be intimidated by, or

trust appearances.  No one is
better than you.  Everyone has
secrets.  Go forward in your life
like you belong anywhere you
want to be.  You can do and be
whomever you want to be. It is
your life.