by Anna Gimilaro
When an eighth grader enters her freshman year of high school, she is immediately bombarded with demands to join clubs, take honors classes, become a leader, play sports, pursue an art, earn good grades, and begin counting community service hours. As a sophomore, this student is expected to maintain a high GPA, apply to the National Honor Society, learn to drive, excel in extracurriculars, and perhaps find a job. By the time junior year rolls around, a “well-rounded student” should hold a leadership position in a club, play a varsity sport or belong to an elite musical ensemble, take AP classes, spend spare time studying SAT vocabulary, and even have a vague idea of a future career path. This all peaks with the college application process senior year. From the start, parents, teachers, and society drill these expectations into students’ minds, so they become fixated on the misconception that doing absolutely everything is the only way to get into a good college; this is naively equated to success in life. With this mindset, students overlook the real purposes of high school: basic education, valuable life skills, and self-discovery.
Now, I’m not saying I’m above all this. In fact, I consider myself a victim of this overachiever epidemic that’s polluting our generation. Like the majority of current high schoolers, I’m caught up in the race of getting into a distinguished school. Constantly worrying that my achievements are subpar in terms of impressing a college seems absurd: I do well in school, participate in a fair number of extracurriculars, and have a job. Yet somehow, I can’t accept that this is sufficient. I compare myself to my friends in everything school related. When they take an honors course that I don’t or volunteer more often than I do, I’m left trying to convince myself of other ways that I’m ahead of them in the college race. I know it shouldn’t be that way. I know it’s not about being ahead, and I know all these petty details don’t matter in the long run, but this idea has been ingrained in my mind for so long that it’s hard to think otherwise.
This becomes most dangerous when students put aside their true passions to do other activities for the sole purpose of resume-building. Although extreme in nature, this disguise of pseudo-enjoyment is sadly worn all too often. Several of my summer camp friends announced that they’re not returning to camp as counselors this summer because “an internship looks much better for college”. I ask a classmate why she’s taking AP statistics and honors calculus if she hates math just to hear that it will boost her GPA which she “needs for college”. I question why my friend is on student council when he complains before every meeting, but I already know the answer: it sounds really good to colleges.
These responses really bother me. Why not spend time doing something of actual interest? In the big scheme of life, the most meaning will be extracted from the things you’re truly invested in and develop an emotional connection to. People go wrong when they fill their schedules with arbitrary, fancy-titled activities just to impress a group of college admission officers. It’s not always the most prestigious activities that teach the most resonating lessons or lead to the most profound epiphanies, so there’s no reason to obsess over them.
This system of rigorous ideals may succeed in generating an abundance of factory-made students with near-perfect GPAs and impressive resumes, but it doesn’t assure prosperity in everything they do; in fact, it creates a lack of independent thinkers–those who will eventually form the backbones of society. The same goes for the other side of the spectrum. Let’s fast forward a few years. Say you don’t end up at a top-notch college: contrary to common fears, it’s extremely unlikely that this will result in lifelong failure or poverty. It’s possible to earn an outstanding education at a state school the same way that an Ivy League doesn’t always ensure perfect professors and courses; the school itself isn’t as important as people make it out to be.
A societal shift from emphasizing high school as a time for resume building to a time for character building is imperative. If the pressure to excel in everything is assuaged, students will find themselves with more time to explore their interests, think independently, and eventually recognize their spot in the world. Rather than spending four years of life obsessing over every little detail that could slightly enhance a college application, a focus on what you actually enjoy will have much more influential long term benefits. Today’s generation of high schoolers has the wrong attitude; this “good for college” hype needs to revolutionize.
Mark Aronson • Dec 8, 2014 at 4:05 pm
Anna
I am a Class of 2013 WHS grad and currently in my second year at Purdue University in Indiana. With our semester wrapping up soon and preparing to come home to Westborough, I thought I’d make a quick stop by the Lobby O website to see what was going on around the school when I found your article (although, let’s be real, I’m really just procrastinating a project right now). I am driven to comment because not only is this a beautifully articulated piece but also a topic I thought a lot about in high school and something that I have seen become even more prevalent in college.
The way I ended up viewing the college application process and, to some extent, any application process and careerism as a whole, is to see it as a twisted game. You are societally conditioned to want to “win the game” by getting into a great school, great grad school, great job, etc (whatever great even means in that context) but want to retain your individualism and humanity in the face of this objective. Unless you become a radical and turn against our entire system of education, striking out on your own and proving that you can live a purposeful, fulfilled life without following society’s path for success (i.e. the American dream or whatever version of it applies at the time), you are stuck playing the game.
Therefore, the question becomes how can you create your own image of success and follow your own path to that success while simultaneously having what you do appeal to people like college admissions boards, job interviewers, your parents, etc? And at the same time, how do you make a statement against these societal expectations and forces while also contributing to that society in a beneficial way? Essentially, how do you win the game while refusing to play by their rules?
I, by no means, have come up with great answers to any of these questions, but I think it falls somewhere in the realm of finding a passion and pursuing it. We are all born with natural strengths and natural inclinations while we develop others. Combined together, these point us to the areas in which we can most effectively better the world while also fulfilling our own personal purpose and making us happy. If find this passion and pursue it to its fullest extent, there is no college admissions board, job interviewer, or other human being who will look at you and reject you, saying you are just a resume builder. Once more and more people do this, maybe then we will see the societal shift you are referring to.
Of course, this pursuit is a lifelong journey and not something that can happen within the four years of high school. I think seeing the whole thing as a game helped me put the college admissions process in the context of it being something of significance without defining my entire life. In the mean time, I wish you the best of luck in winning the game without playing by their rules.
Mrs Freedman • Dec 3, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Anna
Very impressive article. I heard you loud and clear and hope your peers will too. I used to joke with a colleague from another school who was teaching Freshmen History while I was teaching Freshmen Algebra and Geometry because she got her undergraduate degree from Harvard and later her Masters degree from there too while I got my undergraduate degree at Fitchburg State and my Masters from Worcester State. We were both teaching at the same school, the same students making the same money. Now would I have gone to Harvard had I applied and got in? Maybe…point being like you said I did not go to a top-notch school yet I am not a failure-I like to think I am making a difference as did she.
Satyendra Emani • Dec 1, 2014 at 11:14 pm
It’s sad that we’re held up to these standards today. High school was meant to help us become a functioning member of society, without the need of college. College was meant for higher education for careers that weren’t taught in high school. What’s even worse is that nowadays, graduates with a bachelors can’t even get jobs, so in the end, with the money they spent for their education, they have a couple of options: Either going on a job hunt for a couple of years while living with their parents, or becoming a barista or cashier for an extended period of time. And high school isn’t even really preparing us for life either; We’re just memorizing new information every 2 weeks and then just disposing of it after a test at the end of the unit. We’re basically turning into drones with this cycle of memorization. The standards shouldn’t be this high, and what’s even sadder is that we have to have high standards for core subjects that probably won’t really help us in our field of study if we do go as far as college. An engineer may need math and science, but social studies isn’t essential to having an engineer’s education. An actor may need a background in English and Social studies, but math and science isn’t essential to them. A person who wants to become a business owner won’t need science, but they’ll need some math and social studies skills. Why do we emphasize these core subjects for some seniors that won’t need them? It just adds more and more stress, which piles onto whatever stress they already have to deal with.
Joe Liebert • Dec 1, 2014 at 5:26 pm
Great article, and a great message. As a fellow student, I agree with everything you said, especially the analysis of the “overachiever epademic.” Really well written!
Olivia Arnold • Dec 1, 2014 at 5:22 pm
I think this article is really well-written and you did an amazing job expressing your opinion without completely bashing what you thought of the whole concept. I agree with you when you say ” Let’s fast forward a few years. Say you don’t end up at a top-notch college: contrary to common fears, it’s extremely unlikely that this will result in lifelong failure or poverty.” I know a few people who didn’t go to that great of colleges but still turned out successful. Its more of putting your passion into what you are doing to make you successful rather than doing things in high school just so it looks good to colleges. Overall I could completely relate to this article and you did a nice job.
Karen Apuzzo Langton • Nov 24, 2014 at 12:07 pm
This article is so well written! You caught my interest from the first sentence. I hope that your classmates read this and begin shifting. Life is too short to do things you don’t enjoy.
Mrs. Rourke-Dupuis • Nov 22, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Great article Anna, Resonating words about following your passion “most dangerous when students put aside their true passions to do other activities for the sole purpose of resume-building”, when this is often what distinguishes you to the very entities that others are pursuing for resume building. I agree well put, congrats!
Tari Shea • Nov 21, 2014 at 5:20 pm
Anna, you have so eloquently stated what I have told students for years! Congratulations on seeing life from such a mature point of view and I hope it has helped you find peace and happiness. I have told students in the past:
No one will remember or care what your chemistry grade was once you walk across the turf. The important things you will leave high school with are your character and your experiences.
Mrs. DeBoer • Nov 21, 2014 at 1:12 pm
My favorite line, “A societal shift from emphasizing high school as a time for resume building to a time for character building is imperative.” I couldn’t agree more! I hope that the shift comes sooner than later. Great article, Anna.
Mr. DeBoer • Nov 21, 2014 at 12:09 pm
Well said Anna. Well said. It’s about time that this issue was brought up, not by teachers who see it happening, but by a student who sees it happening. Nicely done.
Matt Huse • Nov 20, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Great article, Anna! I hope all of your classmates read it and give some thought to the serious issues it raises.
Mr. Teevens • Nov 20, 2014 at 7:26 pm
Anna, this is a wonderfully written article (seriously, you’re a very skilled writer); I agree with you 100%. It’s depressing to think that so many young people immerse themselves in activities that aren’t truly of interest to them, solely for resume-building purposes. Such students shouldn’t be blamed for obsessing over their resumes–they’ve grown up in an environment that has effectively brainwashed them into doing so. We simply need more voices like yours to, little by little, try and change the narrative. We all need to stop drinking the “good college” kool-aid. You get out of college what you put into it, and that’s true no matter where you go (on a side-note, for the amount of money that students are expected to pay to colleges in tuition and fees, shouldn’t they be the ones recruiting students and not the other way around?). Life really is too short to waste time doing things that you don’t enjoy doing simply because it might impress somebody else. Enjoy being a teenager. Have fun. Immerse yourself in whatever it is that sparks your interest and passion. That goes for all of us really. After all, we’ll all be dead sooner rather than later. Trust that whatever you’re doing is enough, remember to breathe… the future will work itself out one way or another.
Again, thanks for the great read!
Tara Vavruska • Nov 20, 2014 at 7:06 pm
“Why not spend time doing something of actual interest? In the big scheme of life, the most meaning will be extracted from the things you’re truly invested in and develop an emotional connection to.” A lot of wisdom in these words. Yes, Anna, I think you have it right. ~Ms. Vavruska