Ever notice how you have all the right opinions? Why don’t more people think like you? Think back to when you were young, and imagine a situation where you and your fellow classmates were all “competing” to be the best at something. How about the most interesting show-and-tell piece? We’ll go with that.
Proud of yourself, you bring in your glowing pet scorpion named, let’s say, Biggles. When you turn off all the lights and your long-necklace-wearing, bespectacled teacher draws the blinds closed, the class hushes in awe as Biggles, the greatest show-and-tell piece of all time, dazzles and amazes everyone with his strange, neon glow.
The lights come on, and you are on top of the world. Your show-and-tell is the best. Everyone else takes a turn, and then the prizes are dished out–-except everyone’s ribbon says they’re the best, just like the one you’ve been handed. Identical to the others.
That isn’t true! Yours is the best.
You know reality, and everyone else is a rube with the wool pulled over their eyes. But it’s all par for the course and everyone is on the same level, even though you know better.
Fast forward to today. You still have opinions, but there’s no ribbon for your participation. Not so easy being the best now, is it? Where’s your ribbon? Why did they stop handing out ribbons when you stopped being the best? Did they stop somewhere between the onset of schoolyard apathy and the pressure of honors classes? You never took the time to notice, but the expectation is still there.
You know it’s true that not everyone can be the best, but growing up in this everyone-is-equal culture, you carry the inward scars with you to this day, right now. When you were little, you knew you could be an astronaut-ninja-president with super powers and still have time to be a movie star.
When you’re young, these thoughts are real. You actually believed this.
And you’re telling me this same person needs a boost in self-esteem?
Yeah, and Bill Gates needs to borrow some lunch money.
If anything, kids need to be brought back to earth because you’re now learning that in the good ol’ college life when it comes to you versus reality, reality wins.
Every time.
It grinds you up, spits you out, and it barely notices. This will be true forever. It was true when you were a kid. You were just being lied to, and this is a tough realization.
Dreams are important to pursue. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t be walking through campus reading this article. You’re one of the ones that made it. But you didn’t make it through a magical ribbon that gets handed to everyone. You made it through hard work. That’s a real achievement. That’s a pillar to lean your self-esteem against.
If you mess something up, do it again until you get it right. You think those stunts on Cirque du Soleil come naturally? Every time you read the sports section about another Gator athletic achievement, know that it took dedication and hard work.
Most of you are smart, overachievers, organized nut-job A-types or some combination of the three. Know that you either win or you learn. So, stop letting that guitar gather dust, stop neglecting that extra credit, stop not starting a conversation with that guy in class, and go out there and manufacture some self-esteem. Who decided you needed a ribbon in the first place?
Wesley Campbell is a fifth-year English major. His column appears on Wednesdays.
