Anne Applebaum describes the generation of students coming of age these days as "The Busiest Generation" in her op-ed in The Washington Post today. Since one of the best parts of my job is that I get to teach and mentor members of this generation at Dartmouth, I figured I would chime in with a few observations.
First, the op-ed makes note of how competitive it is to gain acceptance to top universities. But the set of institutions with extremely low admit rates is not particularly large. (See this post from Vox Baby last year.) There are plenty of opportunities to attend fine colleges and universities without forsaking the freedom of childhood. And many of our brightest leaders come from these institutions.
Second, I have nothing against a competitive process, but I do regret that the competition takes place in the form of "more is better." More activities, more time spent on those activities, more lines on a resume. I wish the competition took place along the dimension of "better is better." Students should spend their time finding their true intellectual passions, which necessarily involves trying many different activities. But it also involves prioritizing them, committing to just a few of them, and letting the rest go.
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