TOW #27: College Rejection

    In an article on The Onion, there was a spoof on a "tragic story" of a boy, Kevin Grant, who didn't get into his first choice college and proceeded to go on with a positive attitude. The article went on to say that beyond Kevin's optimistic responses, that his life was over and he was now never going to go anywhere in his life. It claimed that resulting from this his social class will be lowered, he will never get a decent job, never be able to pay for a house or afford a family, his living standard will go down and his whole life will be completely changed for the worse. This article is a depiction of how much modern society stresses about the decisions of colleges and education in general. Students and parents put so much emphasis on getting into not only good schools, but the school of the kids choice. The large emphasis creates a "life or death" scenario in which a precedent is set that if the student does not get in, their life is over and there are no other viable options. This idea that has lingered over the present generations is ridiculous and proof that our society is moving more toward a materialistic, competitive one in which we isolate what we want and only work toward that in order to be "successful." I enjoyed this article because I feel it was an accurate depiction of the irrational behavior that overcomes many in the process of picking a college or job, and the precedent many believe that that choice sets for one's life.