https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2019/10/02/fang-count-me-in/ The Oldest College Daily Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:31:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2019/10/02/fang-count-me-in/#comment-65581 Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:31:00 +0000 https://yaledailynews.com/?p=157617#comment-65581 Yes! This is absolutely an important and insightful article. I had a similar experience my freshman year and was similarly disillusioned about the whole “chance to fail and explore” promise. I came to campus so excited to try new things and then ran smack into all those “we regret to inform you” emails, and I was really thrown off balance. Overall Yale culture is unlikely to suddenly introspect and change, but being personally aware of this cultural phenomenon made me better able to find fulfilling (and new!) paths once I had regrouped as an upperclassman. So, as an alum who is now several years out of college and looking back, I very highly recommend you take this author’s advice about “reconsidering if you want something for its inherent value and not due to its prestige” and reframing your mindset accordingly. At a place like Yale it is very easy to get carried away with (or crushed by) the toxic wow-I’m-so-cool narrative, but trust me, it’s ultimately better to take longer and dig deeper to find activities you genuinely value than to muck up your schedule right away by chasing the most obvious sources of self-importance. And the first step is self-awareness!

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