From one privileged ass to the next: Cut it out!
Last week the Wall Street Journal published [an op-ed from a teenager](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324000704578390340064578654.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle), Suzy Lee Weiss, explaining her bitter feelings toward college rejection and accusations that college admissions people lied to her about being herself. From her perspective, she would have been “in” if she were a minority, charitable, or had parents that forced her to have hobbies.
People on my social media feeds railed against the writer’s arrogance and entitlement, and her sore-loser column. But I get it.
In high school, I was in honors classes, I had plenty of extracurricular activities, I worked part-time jobs and I studied for the ACT, but I didn’t get into any of my “reach” schools.
I was upset, but probably more embarrassed. Many of my friends were going to higher-ranking public or private schools. My teachers seemed disappointed, and one specifically asked me, “So, Mizzou… Are you OK with that?” I felt like I had really given it my best shot and failed.
I’ve made a habit of applying for anything I’m interested in now, which I guess is my attempt at increasing my odds of success. But I’ve continued facing rejection from internships, jobs and scholarships. In fact, I’d say I get rejected from _most_ institutions (note: aside from my irrational desire to have everything, life isn’t bad! I have two paid internships and I get my opinion published once a week).
Sometimes, my behavior may seem like a desperate cry out into the abyss, _“Please, someone just love me!”_ But I’m just looking for my calling, you know? There has to be something I’m really good at, passionate about and will pay me lots of money, right?
Or is that part of the “lie” Weiss references?
It’s a great opportunity for Weiss to be published in the Wall Street Journal for her opinion already, but I can’t help thinking the editors were trying to make an example of her as the “millennial entitlement disorder” personified rather than to celebrate her writing.
I know it’s tough to feel like you have a lot of potential but ultimately be average on paper. Blaming the extraordinary, unique and non-average qualities of your peers for your rejection letters is poor sportsmanship and a poor way of thought.
First, we have Weiss’ obvious issue of entitlement. She comes from a place that led her to believe that by being herself (white and privileged), she is entitled to a name-brand education of her choice. But her upbringing failed to teach her humility (and now the media is rewarding her for pouting. Like, “No, sweetie, you _are_ special!”).
Second, and more significantly, is that she seems to think [a minority took “her spot.”](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57529223/supreme-court-takes-up-affirmative-action/) As if the born-rich [legacy people](http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/11/admissions-fitzsimmons-legacy-legacies/) who are shooed in to Ivy League schools are fine and deserving of their place, but the fact that people are being rewarded for overcoming obstacles or contributing to society at a young age is what’s enraging to her. Her discussion of race seems entirely ignorant of history and institutional racism, and mistakes the obstacles for something she was denied.
Perhaps she will realize how entitled she sounds, demanding a reward for being an average high school student, and how privileged she is to be wealthy, educated and white. After getting out of my high school clique and into a large public institution, I am much more thankful for my education and an upbringing that focused on my intellectual development at all. I also found some character benefit in not being coddled through my undergraduate program like I was in high school.
Ultimately, I’ve gotten a lot better at understanding success and recognition are not immediate or deserved, but require focus, creativity and a lot of hard work. With any luck, one day Weiss will realize that too. Or perhaps her subversive racism and pouty memoirs will get her a book deal, cable show and solidify that entitled, elitist perspective.