More Elitism as it seems
My newsfeed picked up a little article of interest today, a little comic called Why Ivy League Grads Aren't All Pretentious Douchebags. Disclaimer: I do not attend an Ivy League, only a little university that insists to be part of the 'Ivy Plus' that my mom snorts at occasionally. The artist has a great point, and I decided to check out the original article that was the source of this rebuttal.
I'm sorry, Mr. Deresiewicz, but your social inadequacy is no one's fault but yours.
While it's true that my school isn't an Ivy, the people who attend it do hold it to a good standing, and even I would argue that our workload is rigorous and we do churn out motivated, intellectual individuals. Yes, there are people who go there who echo Deresiewicz's personality. But at the same time, there are people who don't, and it isn't fair to label the entire intellectual community as awkward people who can't talk to 'commoners'.
I used (shit, I actually tried to say 'used', what have I become) am a commoner: I don't come from old money. I come from parents who were immigrants who worked hard in an English-speaking nation to be where they're at, and they're only still middle class. I don't care, I like where I am. I went to a private school for middle school, where there were still clear distinctions between kids in my economic standing and those who lived on a particular street and had bigger houses. But there were still a majority of people who lived in small suburban homes like mine. I was comfortable and surrounded by the same kind of kids who worried more about what they wore and who they were friends with instead of what their parents made.
I went to a private high school. This was a different environment, because the school was located in a relatively wealthier part of the neighborhood than my middle school. From the start, there was a clear difference between me and most of the girls who went there, who often wore actual brand names (than typical teenage brands like A&E and such) and toted around Gucci bags and wore designer sunglasses. I looked at my retail clothes and felt the sting of inadequacy. But I was also in a friend group of similar standing, so I worked instead at not being a total stupid head. There were times I had to raise an eyebrow at the tactless way some girls handled other girls who weren't as wealthy, but they were all good educational experiences that made me relish my middle class background and I kept them all in mind so I did not make the same mistakes.
Somehow my stupidity got me into a pretty good university, full of nerds and people who actually like learning. A lot of my current classmates are actually involved and enthusiastic with their education, which I feel awkward being with since I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing on this planet. It's a typical joke that students who go to my school are 'nerds' and 'socially awkward', but my friends did not seem too bad and I did not really consider what it meant to go to my school until Halloween.
For Halloween, my dorm house held a 'haunted house' theme and our lounge was decorated like a mad scientist's room. A bright-but-often-awkward guy played the scientist and played around with dry ice as 'magic'. Kids and their parents from around the neighborhood, a place ranging from middle class to low class families, came to trick or treat; the event was held because the surrounding neighborhoods are infamous for being unsafe and this would give the kids a chance to get candy and be safe while doing so. A father went up to the guy and asked him how he was doing the 'magic' and the guy went on a whole scientific speech about carbon dioxide. As an observer, I could tell from the start that the only thing he really needed to say was, "It's dry ice" and the father would be on his way. Instead, it took at least ten minutes until he finally said those simple words.
I think what Deresiewicz is referring to is this: people who are so intellectually packed that they are so wrapped up in their knowledge that they forget that the world sometimes isn't as complicated as they make it out to be. Yes, you can see people for their generic makeup, but you could also see them as what they are: human beings just like you. So the problem isn't going to a 'smart-kid' school; it's that some of the people who go there are both ignorant to how the world work and arrogant in their observed 'superiority'. I was never taught in any of my schools that I am better than people who aren't in my position; it was just an idea that circulated because of who made the money.
I guess the main idea is that it really does depend on your background? If you're raised to be elite, like the girls in my high school and apparently Mr. Deresiewicz himself, you're going to have trouble with the rest of the world and will find things to blame. But if you're coming up (and being middle class, that's really not as low as could be), you'll know to appreciate and think before you say stupid things and write an entire opinionated article. Hell, this entire post was opinionated, so there you go.
Of course, if you entire dirty jokes and slacking off at an 'elite' school, that comes with a title of its own...but what's college for but developing thicker skin, right?
I'm sorry, Mr. Deresiewicz, but your social inadequacy is no one's fault but yours.
While it's true that my school isn't an Ivy, the people who attend it do hold it to a good standing, and even I would argue that our workload is rigorous and we do churn out motivated, intellectual individuals. Yes, there are people who go there who echo Deresiewicz's personality. But at the same time, there are people who don't, and it isn't fair to label the entire intellectual community as awkward people who can't talk to 'commoners'.
I used (shit, I actually tried to say 'used', what have I become) am a commoner: I don't come from old money. I come from parents who were immigrants who worked hard in an English-speaking nation to be where they're at, and they're only still middle class. I don't care, I like where I am. I went to a private school for middle school, where there were still clear distinctions between kids in my economic standing and those who lived on a particular street and had bigger houses. But there were still a majority of people who lived in small suburban homes like mine. I was comfortable and surrounded by the same kind of kids who worried more about what they wore and who they were friends with instead of what their parents made.
I went to a private high school. This was a different environment, because the school was located in a relatively wealthier part of the neighborhood than my middle school. From the start, there was a clear difference between me and most of the girls who went there, who often wore actual brand names (than typical teenage brands like A&E and such) and toted around Gucci bags and wore designer sunglasses. I looked at my retail clothes and felt the sting of inadequacy. But I was also in a friend group of similar standing, so I worked instead at not being a total stupid head. There were times I had to raise an eyebrow at the tactless way some girls handled other girls who weren't as wealthy, but they were all good educational experiences that made me relish my middle class background and I kept them all in mind so I did not make the same mistakes.
Somehow my stupidity got me into a pretty good university, full of nerds and people who actually like learning. A lot of my current classmates are actually involved and enthusiastic with their education, which I feel awkward being with since I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing on this planet. It's a typical joke that students who go to my school are 'nerds' and 'socially awkward', but my friends did not seem too bad and I did not really consider what it meant to go to my school until Halloween.
For Halloween, my dorm house held a 'haunted house' theme and our lounge was decorated like a mad scientist's room. A bright-but-often-awkward guy played the scientist and played around with dry ice as 'magic'. Kids and their parents from around the neighborhood, a place ranging from middle class to low class families, came to trick or treat; the event was held because the surrounding neighborhoods are infamous for being unsafe and this would give the kids a chance to get candy and be safe while doing so. A father went up to the guy and asked him how he was doing the 'magic' and the guy went on a whole scientific speech about carbon dioxide. As an observer, I could tell from the start that the only thing he really needed to say was, "It's dry ice" and the father would be on his way. Instead, it took at least ten minutes until he finally said those simple words.
I think what Deresiewicz is referring to is this: people who are so intellectually packed that they are so wrapped up in their knowledge that they forget that the world sometimes isn't as complicated as they make it out to be. Yes, you can see people for their generic makeup, but you could also see them as what they are: human beings just like you. So the problem isn't going to a 'smart-kid' school; it's that some of the people who go there are both ignorant to how the world work and arrogant in their observed 'superiority'. I was never taught in any of my schools that I am better than people who aren't in my position; it was just an idea that circulated because of who made the money.
I guess the main idea is that it really does depend on your background? If you're raised to be elite, like the girls in my high school and apparently Mr. Deresiewicz himself, you're going to have trouble with the rest of the world and will find things to blame. But if you're coming up (and being middle class, that's really not as low as could be), you'll know to appreciate and think before you say stupid things and write an entire opinionated article. Hell, this entire post was opinionated, so there you go.
Of course, if you entire dirty jokes and slacking off at an 'elite' school, that comes with a title of its own...but what's college for but developing thicker skin, right?