Recently I've come to recognize that the education I'm receiving at my public high school isn't as gratifying for me as it should be. This, combined with a loss of our Catholic roots within my own family has led me to undergo a bit of a crisis concerning my education; both in the religious aspect as well as the "liberal education" (by this I mean classical liberal arts education) aspect. It seems I have a first hand account of everything that is wrong with our Post-Modern world today.

However, I’m also inspired by Saint Augustine, who also (so I’ve read) had a lackluster education, yet was so eager to learn he went out of his way to teach himself what the education system failed to teach him. Taking this into account, what would the members of ISI recommend to me so that I might prepare myself and teach myself the building blocks of a liberal arts education? This can range anywhere from literature, the arts in general, history, theology, etc. I have about 16 months before I head off to college (where I will hopefully be brought to the next level education wise) and I want to make sure I take the necessary steps to ensure I know enough so that I will not have to worry about having to catch up later.

Thanks ahead of time for any replies.

Vincent,

You might be interested in obtaining Fr. James Schall's A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning (ISI Books). Mark Henrie's A Student's Guide to the Core Curriculum would also be beneficial.

Best wishes.

I agree, books provide centuries of knowledge and curiosity. there is no one teacher or school that can provide the same scope of knowledge that a library has.

Vincent: I hope this does not appear too late for you to benefit from it. I showed your request to a good friend of mine who is very familiar with the Catholic intellectual tradtion, and here is what she replied:

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A fan of Saint Augustine? Sometimes, I think we all begin at Hippo, and proceed from there. You have an ally in this new Pope of ours, a self-professed Augustinian and a man of keen intellect and open heart. I'm guessing that you've read the Confessions, already?

Another nice point of entry would be George Weigel's, Letters to a Young Catholic . It is modeled on Rilke's Letter to a Young Poet, and in it Weigel guides the reader on a brief tour (geographic and spiritual) of Catholicism - it is entertaining, intelligent and conversational.

One more suggestion is Paul Elie's The life you save may be your own. I can not speak too highly of this book - it is a literary biography of the four great literary Catholics of the last century: Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy. Elie calls the work an "American Pilgrimage" - and this is fitting, as the four pilgrims take very different paths in life (and towards God, as it happens: Day through action, Merton through contemplation, O'Connor through art, Percy through intellect). This suggests an expansive faith, which I think Catholicism is, and a decidedly positive approach to life. (I also include it because it will lead you to the work of each writer - in itself an ambitious and worthwhile undertaking.)

Good luck to you.

Vincent, I completly agree with you. At my high school right now, and most likely many others, the standards have been placed so far down that the teachers have to literally dumb down already extremely simplified courses. Even our English Language, writing, and speech skills are dumbed down. So much so, I had the case where in my class a while back, a fellow student did not know how to pronounce 'martyr'. Se was pronouncing it mar-ti-yar. It's sad that our education is lacking so much in this country. I'm a senior and I've signed up for MANY Advanced Placement (AP) classes over the past couple of years and I'm sorry to say that even those have failed to challenge me. The only challenge I've gotten out of my school is my AP Physics class. I still go out and teach myself though because I'm a geek like that.
I have even resorted to 'un-officially' taking a AP Organic Chemistry class during my lunch period to keep me from being bored. It helps to make friends with your teachers like I have with the Science dept. at my school. They all know me very well since I've taken nearly every science course they offer. If you get to know them, they may allow you to go in during a free period and you could ask for a larger challenge or do cool experiments like I. Just from my own experience, making friends with the faculty is the best way to learn more either it be school based or practical life based experience. They are a wealth of knowledge. Ask them of their college days, what to ask about when touring, how to handle the course loads and the professors. I'm positive they will help you out as long as you show the initiative to step-up and ask them. Who knows, you might just challenge them as teachers.

Good luck to you.

Oh, yeah. You said you teach yourself sometimes. Check this site out. I have found it to be quite a nice site to go for information and books (free).

http://www.justfreebooks.info/
or .com
I can't remember which.

Anyway, good luck. Feel free to update with your luck on this quest of yours.

Chuck Norris