It’s a choice that has plagued students for what seems like centuries: PV or Pen high? While the better school may never be determined, the rivalry between both schools runs deep and with rivalry comes major stereotyping.
As a recent transfer from the school on the other side of the peninsula, I have gotten many questions about my decision to move. Aside from the obvious question “Why?”, the most frequently asked questions about my transfer mainly deal with stereotypes: “Is everyone there, like, super smart?” or “Are people really nicer over there?”, and my personal favorite, “Is it true that everyone is Asian?”
If you’ve ever wondered about any of the questions listed above, look no further as we have here for you the answers to some stereotypes about Pen High and what some Panthers are thinking about you.
Pen High Stereotypes:
Everyone at Pen High is Super Smart- This is somewhat true, mainly because the academic bar at Peninsula High School is set incredibly high compared to other high schools nationwide. The mindset is: a 90 percent just isn’t enough and the more AP’s, clubs, electives, and trophies the better, right? Throw in a few tiger moms and highly competitive students and you have Peninsula’s academic standards in a nutshell. That doesn’t mean that the students here aren’t as smart or that the academic bar is any lower (we can see that from PV’s national ranking). The environment just seems to be missing the same edge that is present over there.
The People are Nicer- I wouldn’t say that the students are nicer, but they are more open and less clique-y than some of the students here. When the kids aren’t being super competitive, most are actually really friendly and social. Again, that’s not to say that students at PV aren’t nice or friendly or social, but they do tend to stick to their own social groups.
People only care About Their Grades: Surprisingly, some students at Pen care just as much about sports and extracurricular activities as PV students do (hey, those look good on college apps too!). No, the Panthers are not CIF football champions, but sports still do play a big part in the lives of many Panthers. After all GPA is not all that matters.
Everyone is Asian- It’s hard to answer this question without sounding racist (even though the question itself is a bit racist). To be truthful though, a much, much larger population of Asian-American students attend Peninsula High School than attend Palos Verdes High School. While Palos Verdes High school has a minority population of 25 percent according to US News, Palos Verdes Peninsula’s minority population is a whopping 53 percent (with Asians making up 41 percent of the whole school). So no, not everyone is Asian, but it is safe to say it is pretty close.
PV High Stereotypes:
Everyone is Really Rich: Well…
In all honesty there are some students that attend PV who seem to have enough money to feed a third world country and it isn’t any big secret. Luckily, this doesn’t seem to reflect negatively on anyone’s behavior.While in comparison to many students in LA county, all of PV may be a rich man’s land, there are many students who are not big shots with big money. The same, however, could be said for Peninsula.
People Only Care About Sports: A lot of students from Peninsula like to think that the Sea Kings are all games and no brain, but I’ve met enough people here to know that this is absolutely untrue. Palos Verdes High School’s top 55th rank on Newsweek speaks for itself.
