I was blown away by the strong spirit of Classical enthusiasm that could be felt , even through a Zoom screen . In the VJCL it felt as if being a Latin student was not a death sentence , like it can be in Norfolk , but instead the reviving of a vital area of study . Through the VJCL I met amazing people , got to see beautiful college campuses for Nats , learned parliamentary procedure , but most importantly learned why a Classical education matters and is vital in schools .
To that though , my involvement in the VJCL always felt as if I was looking through a window into the VJCL experience .
As a southern delegate , there were times where I could only make meetings through Zoom and attending a Certamen event was not an easy feat . I flew by myself for all the National Conventions I attended and to attend in person VJCL events I drove the equivalent of the length of Italy times four .
While I was never discouraged from participating in the VJCL , in fact , the boards I served on encouraged me beyond belief , being hours away from the epicenter of the VJCL inherently limited my involvement , even as president . There are many reasons why southern Virginia is not represented in the VJCL , but a major reason is that to be present at VJCL events there are significant sacrifices of money , time , and mileage that southern delegates have to make that their northern counterparts do not experience on the same scale .
The lack of southern involvement isn ’ t to be blamed on any individual reason though . The simple truth is that the VJCL , and Classical education as a whole , are primarily located in northern Virginia , but there is hope of engaging southern Virginia .
Through my own research I have found that southern isolation is not entirely the fault of the VJCL . Southern Virginia schools simply have fewer Latin programs then northern schools . The lack of Latin programs in southern Virginia is not due to an anti-Latin government conspiracy but is due to urbanization , and southern Virginia ’ s lack of it . Due to its proximity to Washington D . C . northern Virginia has urbanized at high rates which creates higher population densities and leads to demands for more schools .
For example , Fairfax County hosts over 37 high schools of which 27 offer Latin ; the only area that comes close to that number of high schools in southern Virginia is Virginia Beach City which has only 14 high schools of which only 7 offer Latin , but that is the largest school district in Southern Virginia .