You think they're sincere? I do not. They're Ivy Leaguers. Most of them got to where they are because their parents ruthlessly exploited any advantage that was out there, from extra prep courses to getting diagnosed with disorders in order to get more time on exams. Grasping for advantage without concern for the optics is how most of them got to where they are.
I realize we're supposed to take people in good faith, but honestly, when was the past time anyone else got this much good faith? Assume they're trying to swindle the system. Most of them are.
I don't have an Ivy League background, so I can't really put myself into those shoes. But, drawing upon my own 30+ years as a college educator, I see a group of people who are sincere in their beliefs and want to make a positive difference, but don't know yet what they don't know in placing ideals ahead of real world considerations and expecting things to fall into place for them because it is what they are used to elsewhere. They are good kids to a large extent, but in some ways they need to get over themselves and their sense of self-importance and entitlement before they find out through hard experience that personal passion goes only so far when there always are bigger badasses out there who either want the same things that you do or do not want for you to have them. They will figure out eventually how to deal with that when nobody else can or will do it for them.
Mr. D, I think you are a truly compassionate person with a first hand knowledge of college life. This is an Ivy League school. Yes, I understand being appalled at the cruelty of war, I just don't understand what they're getting out of this.
My daughter went to community college before going to a university. When she did step on campus she told me she felt so privileged, and was grateful. And this was a state school. I'm not too sure that these Ivy Leaguers feel the same gratitude since this is what they've always expected.
And if they're wanting to become lawyers, they've already lost their first case - because they can't focus.
Some of the students are opportunists, like other people in life, looking to take advantage of a situation for personal gain. But most of them seem to have good intentions. They just don't know yet that you can push a point too far in the eyes of others and harm your cause more than help it. Eventually they will learn that just because you feel strongly about something yourself doesn't mean that others necessarily will see it your way no matter how passionate you are, or that they will support your tactics because you think it is the right way to proceed. If it were a class it would be Life Experience 101.
Your point about community college resonates with me. As I've said here on various occasions, I have students who milk cows and do other family-first farm work before coming to classes on a given day. Others work ridiculously long and late hours just to pay for tuition and other necessary life costs. Many are first-generation college students who appreciate the chance to have a life that their parents and grandparents never had. Obviously that is not true of every single student in the non-elite campus setting, and not every "privileged" student comes from an elite background. But it is true of enough of those at the smaller, "off Broadway" schools, and even many of the bigger and higher-profile ones, that we can see a fundamental difference. I enjoy working in an environment where the vast majority of the students are well-grounded and realistic about both what they are there for and what kind of opportunity they have that so many elsewhere on Earth never get. They are grateful for that and tend not to take their blessings for granted.
You think they're sincere? I do not. They're Ivy Leaguers. Most of them got to where they are because their parents ruthlessly exploited any advantage that was out there, from extra prep courses to getting diagnosed with disorders in order to get more time on exams. Grasping for advantage without concern for the optics is how most of them got to where they are.
I realize we're supposed to take people in good faith, but honestly, when was the past time anyone else got this much good faith? Assume they're trying to swindle the system. Most of them are.
I don't have an Ivy League background, so I can't really put myself into those shoes. But, drawing upon my own 30+ years as a college educator, I see a group of people who are sincere in their beliefs and want to make a positive difference, but don't know yet what they don't know in placing ideals ahead of real world considerations and expecting things to fall into place for them because it is what they are used to elsewhere. They are good kids to a large extent, but in some ways they need to get over themselves and their sense of self-importance and entitlement before they find out through hard experience that personal passion goes only so far when there always are bigger badasses out there who either want the same things that you do or do not want for you to have them. They will figure out eventually how to deal with that when nobody else can or will do it for them.
Mr. D, I think you are a truly compassionate person with a first hand knowledge of college life. This is an Ivy League school. Yes, I understand being appalled at the cruelty of war, I just don't understand what they're getting out of this.
My daughter went to community college before going to a university. When she did step on campus she told me she felt so privileged, and was grateful. And this was a state school. I'm not too sure that these Ivy Leaguers feel the same gratitude since this is what they've always expected.
And if they're wanting to become lawyers, they've already lost their first case - because they can't focus.
Some of the students are opportunists, like other people in life, looking to take advantage of a situation for personal gain. But most of them seem to have good intentions. They just don't know yet that you can push a point too far in the eyes of others and harm your cause more than help it. Eventually they will learn that just because you feel strongly about something yourself doesn't mean that others necessarily will see it your way no matter how passionate you are, or that they will support your tactics because you think it is the right way to proceed. If it were a class it would be Life Experience 101.
Your point about community college resonates with me. As I've said here on various occasions, I have students who milk cows and do other family-first farm work before coming to classes on a given day. Others work ridiculously long and late hours just to pay for tuition and other necessary life costs. Many are first-generation college students who appreciate the chance to have a life that their parents and grandparents never had. Obviously that is not true of every single student in the non-elite campus setting, and not every "privileged" student comes from an elite background. But it is true of enough of those at the smaller, "off Broadway" schools, and even many of the bigger and higher-profile ones, that we can see a fundamental difference. I enjoy working in an environment where the vast majority of the students are well-grounded and realistic about both what they are there for and what kind of opportunity they have that so many elsewhere on Earth never get. They are grateful for that and tend not to take their blessings for granted.
Thank you.
I did write a different reply but deleted it. It wasn't a bad one, lol.
I was just wondering if we have made our kids (and ourselves) too soft and unaware.
Have a wonderful weekend Mr. D!
You too! Sunny and warm here in Dairyland USA -- great weather for finally getting those flowers in the dirt and starting a beautiful garden.