Superhuman race

As the years go by and you get through high school, CEGEP and university, the pressure put on students to perform continuously increases and you get to the point where you desperately need a reality check.

You start school, an innocent 6 year-old thinking that good grades is all you need to get through life. Then the years go by and before you know it, you have to apply to university and suddenly having good grades is only enough to keep you afloat among the masses of high achievers. But what makes you unique? That is what universities want to know. And unless you've won some beauty pageant, all the while being the president of the math club, there's no chance that anyone will take notice.

Extracurriculars have become the new buzzword in the academic world and even in the world of job searches. It is no longer enough to be good at what you do, but you need to care about your community, you need to change things, you need to leave a mark. And if that wasn't enough, you also have to network and have the right connections if you want to get into a really good school. I read this old article in the New York Times about athletes who were trying to gain admission into select colleges through their achievements in the world of sports. Now these aren't brainless people who weigh 200 pounds of muscle and who only know how to kick a ball. They are intelligent people who manage to juggle school work and intense training programs. But still, some are left out. Because even when you're the best, there are still people who are better than you.

But how do you live with this knowledge? Always pushing yourself, always expanding your horizons in every possible direction, hoping that you have what it takes to secure a good future for yourself. Another New York Times post talks about students in the US applying to as many as 30 universities in hopes of being accepted in a good school. 30??? That is freakishly insane! Besides the fact that you get yourself in debt even before you start college in order to pay the application forms, the time it takes to complete those applications which in competitive programs require long autobiographical letters and references from teachers is incredibly long even for one application.

This leads me to think, what about the normal people? Do they even exist anymore? People who struggle in high school, what do they do in this case? Or have they already been submerged in the academic ocean? Did they give up? Have they been absorbed by society into Walmart cashiers and restaurant waiters? Or on the contrary, are they faring better than us nerds by simply rejecting the system and becoming entrepreneurs?

I remember someone once telling me that it's better to be the smartest in a group of stupid people, than to be the idiot in the genius bunch (or something along those lines). Maybe the answer doesn't lie in going to Harvard or McGill Med, but in making your own way. But then which one of those two is easier?

Maybe, in the end, the problem is not with the system, because after all, there will always be limited places for a larger number of candidates, be it in universities or in the workforce. Maybe there's a problem with our values and the perception we have of ourselves. Maybe the philosophy exposed in Fight Club is right. Maybe Tyler Durden is right when he says: "You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else". Maybe we should stop concentrating on being the best and just concentrate on enjoying life. And what if you have to be the best in order to enjoy life (aka high achievers such as myself)? Well then sucks to be you...

New York Times articles here and here