Until recently, college was not a matter of life or death to me. Of corse I knew I was going to college, however which college I went to did not scare me. I always had an average 3.0 to 3.3 GPA: not fantastic but not terrible. This year, my junior year, things changed. I became more interested in getting away from my now, “small town,” and moving on to bigger places--SO CAL. To do this I needed to push myself. When I entered the world of “over achievers” I certainty got a news flash.
This year I am taking some challenging classes which qualify me as also a over achiever, and with those classes I met some new people. When I met these kids they reminded me of Rory Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls series. If you have not seen the show, Rory was a obsessive overachiever who dreamed of going to Harvard since she was little. Most of these kids were the same; Like Rory, a 4.0 GPA and above was expected, doing sports, and extra circulars, also, expected.
GPA is the number one. If your not close to a 4.0, forget it. You have to be one of those, “gifted,” kids in something else (sports), to even be thought about by college admissions. I would say getting 4.0 is easy in the regular classes. However we “smart kids” have to take classes which, unless your going to be in that profession, are completely useless. Classes like HP or none HP Pre-Calculus, AP Chemistry, and AP History are some examples of the useless class’ we are expected to take. These classes give us the weighted GPA to put us above and beyond. I was talking to a friend today, their GPA- 4.6. Are you crazy?
Sports is another big one. If you are good at sports, you have a good chance in getting a scholarship. Me, who has no hand-eye coordination what so ever, does not find sports as a big possibility. However I do have to add I play badminton for my high school team year around. Im not particularly good, but I think it is pretty cool.
If you thought that sports and grades did not take up enough time, your sadly mistaken. After studies and practices you are also expected to join clubs and do volunteer work. Almost every day at lunch you should be at a club. On weekends when you are basically dead from the previous week you should be volunteering. This is expected. This is a necessity to be in the “overachiever crew.” My view-- I want to hang out with friends. I want to go to work and make money. Come’n, teenage girl obviously means shopping. My view is what I seriously need to work on. Though I have gotten better this year, I am apart of the science club, the ski and snowboard club, COR club (environmental preservation club), and just joined another volunteering club. So I am getting better. I just need to do stuff on the weekends, which sounds like death if you ask me. I think the extra circulars are drilled into our heads as such an important factor because truly you need nothing to be apart of it. With getting a GPA, you generally have to be smart, which you do not just get handed to you. And with sports, you need to have that factor of being athletic. With clubs and volunteer work all you need to do is show up, you have to take the time out of your high school life, and go.
The other day in my AP English class we read, The Chem 20 Factor by Ellen Goodman. The article was about a class that aspiring doctors took called Chem 20. This class made the students so completive and in all narcissistic because their hard work. These young adults gave up there twenties for the “Big Payoff.” In the article Goodman said, “who go through college competing for medical school and go through medical school competing for a good internship and go through internship competing for a good residency.” Just like when I wrote about what was expected to get into a good college, the same goes on college to get a good job.
What is the Motivation for this craziness? In AP English we are encouraged to have group discussions in the middle of class. What I have taken from those discussions is money is foremost the motivation. Money provides everything, I do not need to go in depth on that. My view-- Im going to be honest, I had to just debate what is the most truthful response. As much as I would love to say money is not the biggest motivation, I can not. However, other than money I have a few more. For one, when I receive my report card or my parents see on school loop(online grading) that I have good grades, I do feel extremely satisfied. Career wise, I want to be a marine biologist, I want to help the ocean, and with hard work, I can get into a college and pursue my career aspirations. In all, I am not all that different from the other “overachievers.”
GPA, sports, and extra circulars mean your going to be successful. They are the most obvious way to make money. Money is success. Success is Power. Power is something everyone wants. Everyone wants to leave a footprint in this world. Getting into a good college is the way to start on that path. I am on the way to being apart of the “overachiever crew.” I have the grades, now I need to get the mind set required to be in the crew. For now, what I do know is, I want to leave my footprint too.
--faith
--faith
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