Christopher Jackson
Outliers…the story of success
The Outliners chapter one: The Matthew Effect Raised the question of
success being a matter of time rather than a result of lineage, education and
determination. The Graph containing the birth dates of the professional and
semi-pro hockey players was very convincing and further solidified his thesis.
To be honest it had me at a loss for words when I first read it, I looked at it
again to make sure I was reading correctly. But as I read on I discovered the
time in which these athletes were born meant that they were at the perfect age
to mentally and physically to excel. And he also explained how being good
athletes exposed them to the best coaches and they trained almost three times
as much as their lower echelon peers.
As a middle child who was born in February I find myself in a better
position in life compared to my siblings. By no means am I wealthy, but I was
always considered the “smart kid” by all or most of the members of my
family. Early in my “academic career” I
didn’t feel smart as the other kids in class. I was constantly staying after
school to study with teachers and honor role students. I was struggling to keep
up with the rest of class as it seemed everyone would pick up lessons really
quick but I would have to study extra hard to understand. But I did excel at
sports which influenced my opinion about the theme of the writing.
Perhaps being good athletically opened the doors for me to receive extra
help. I think It heavily depends on
where you attend school. All schools are not created equal, the amount of tax
dollars funneled through property taxes vary from district to district. The
higher the property taxes the more funds flow in those districts schools. The
results of those funds are a multitude of programs and resources aimed at
helping the students excel in sports as well as academically. The schools in
the lower tax brackets have very limited funds. They cut athletic programs and
other extracurricular activities while increasing the amount of kids per class.
Maybe the lack of athletic programs in the poorer districts is linked to
the poor performance of the inner city schools. Could Gladwell’s thesis only
hold water for kids in a higher tax bracket? The point about the hockey players
was well taken. But what if their parents didn’t have the time or means for
their kids to participate in organized sports? Is this the reason so many inner
city youth gravitate so strongly toward basketball? All you need to play is
shorts, gym shoes, and the ability to put the ball in the hole. Physical
ability will only get you so far, the environment surrounding the child has to
be conducive for success, and a child athlete has a better chance of being
successful in a school with a good athletics program.
As for success, it is defined and measured differently on an individual
basis. I think to be successful a person has to choose what area of life they
want to succeed in, and work hard at it. Even the Hockey players Gladwell spoke
about didn’t make it merely because they were born in the first quarter of the
year but because they took full advantage of the opportunity they were
presented with. Determination and hard work was detrimental to their
achievement, like they say “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make
them drink it.” So even if some kids have the physical advantage over other
kids in their grade level it is ultimately in the hands of the individual to
his perception of success.
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