College: Worth the Hype?

"So where do you plan to attend college?"

I get this question a lot, from parent's coworkers, family friends, teachers, and basically anyone who I engage in a conversation with. Sure, I'm highly interested in searching for colleges, and I've been on the site "Naviance" more times than I can count, but I'm a JUNIOR. For fear of judgement, and maybe to raise my confidence, I always answer with a polite, "I'm still searching for colleges, I don't quite know what I'm interested in yet." It's almost as if college defines who we are, and as New Trier students, it's expected that we go to elite, prestigious universities. 

I read an article just today about the lowering acceptance rates of Ivy Leagues, the lowest being Harvard with a staggering 5.9% accepted out of all that apply; this tends to be about 35,000 students. That's only 2,065 accepted! One of the comments on the article states, "I borrowed a friends Harvard sweatshirt after a sailing regatta and I received three job offers during that day, a phone number and a request for a date as well as two parents who wanted me to mentor their kids. It's shocking how much weight those seven letters carry (Bendgoat)." Do people deserve such high respect when attending an Ivy League? But more importantly, should college be such a defining factor of our lives?

Taken For Granted

This past week, when I wasn't napping to get better from the flu, I was thinking about the advantages Americans have. We have easy access to any and all medicines needed to improve our health and doctors who, in a majority of the cases, will know exactly what to do to cure any ailments we may have. Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare are mere examples of the many programs the US has for the sole purpose of keeping Americans healthy. A large percent of the population under age 67 is insured by an employer, some buy health insurance on their own, and the remainder, although uninsured, have health insurance provided by the government for public sector employees (Wikipedia).

So why am I telling you this? Because it's not like this everywhere. Africa is short of doctors and nurses, which should come as no surprise. The continent overall has 1.4 health workers per 1,000 people, which is nothing compared to the 9.9 in America. These poor nations, including Malawi and Zambia, are paying to train medics, who emigrate, to staff the hospitals of the US and Europe. So basically, this shortage of doctors puts rich countries at fault. Africa is subsidizing us, so by rights we should be helping them, when in reality we are hurting them (WashingtonPost).

Many Americans, including us on the north shore, tend to take for granted just how lucky we are to receive shots that fend off flu and yearly physicals with the doctor to check up on our health. Our well-being is extremely important and should never be understated. We need to start helping these poor countries as much as we can and figure out the best ways to improve the conditions they endure, as we have the proper materials to do so.

Where Is Your Morality?

I read an article the other day regarding "designer babies", the controversy surrounding stem cell research and whether it is ethical. Stem cells have long since been a hot topic for scientists and geneticists alike. What if there was a technology or chemical surgery that existed where parents could design their child’s exact genetic make-up? Should parents be able to choose their child’s fate? What would be the ramifications of the world we live in today? The American dream says that with hard work you can get everything that you need. In the article, it states, "The increasing power and accessibility of genetic technology may one day give parents the option of modifying their unborn children, on order to spare offspring from disease or, conceivably, make them tall, well muscled, intelligent or otherwise blessed with desirable traits." 

Alright. I can see where this is an attractive bargain, ensuring that your kid lives a healthy and safe life. In fact, that most likely turned my mind around about the whole situation, creating a fiery debate in my head that caused me to need another's opinion. To me, being able to choose your child's features is ludicrous. One should be happy with whatever their child's outward appearance is, and love them for the traits they were born with. As a sixteen-year-old girl, I'm so used to my parents doing everything they can to control me. Our parents hold power over almost everything we do, and now they could potentially take away who we are, or who we would be, as well? No thanks. 

On the North Shore, keeping a stellar reputation and maintaining exceptional grades are two of the countless ambitions we seek. It is simply routine to have these goals in mind as a student attending New Trier, with the absurd amount of talented competition around us. As a whole, Americans strive to have the best. Is there a line to be drawn between striving for perfection and going too far? When will we stop trying to control everything we can and start accepting things for what they are?