There are many examples in high schools which show something about the effects such competition might have.
High
When I was in high school and college, I thought everybody could think in pictures. And my first inkling to my thinking was even different was when I was in college and I read an article about, you know, some scientist said that the caveman could not have designed tools until they had language.
The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ordinary people who debate in narrow confines.
Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment.
I want my kids to graduate from high school. But that’s not enough. I also want them to go to college. Why? Because rich people’s kids go to college. And if that’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for my kids. Because you know what? College graduates don’t tend to go to jail as frequently as nongraduates.
In a high school, the norms act to hold down the achievements of those who are above average, so that the school’s demands will be at a level easily maintained by the majority.
But what many psychologists have done, probably because they did well on a test themselves and everyone wants high self esteem, is to create this little box and then do their research inside it.
I developed a mania for Fitzgerald – by the time I’d graduated from high school I’d read everything he’d written. I started with ‘The Great Gatsby’ and moved on to ‘Tender Is the Night,’ which just swept me away. Then I read ‘This Side of Paradise,’ his novel about Princeton – I literally slept with that book under my pillow for two years.
There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple and useful life.
Experience is a good school. But the fees are high.