When I initially stated the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell I thought nothing of it. I thought that it was just another book that we had to read for English class. But because of this assignment I think that there is more to this book then I had originally thought. This book actually is relevant to my everyday life. I realize that Outliers is a book about everyday occurrences. This is why the book Outliers connects to my life. This book connects to my life in multiple ways. I never thought that the way I was raised by my parents would affect the way I act in society. Could my stress induced headaches really be from school? Finally someone who thinks it's actually smart to read in the summer and that accepts the fact that I work from the time I get home until the time I go to bed on homework.
The book Outliers showed to me that the way I am raised can affect how I act in society. Throughout my whole life my parents have told me to ask questions if I want answers. I was always raised to never be shy and I was taught the philosophy being shy gets you nowhere. I use this act daily. During school I ask questions in every one of my classes every day. An example is last week during Biology my class started a new topic. The new topic was on genetics and the structure of DNA. I must have asked at least fifteen questions that day during class. When I graduated kindergarten my teachers put on my graduation certificate that I was the one with a million questions. I love to ask questions because it adds to my intelligence. But other times I hate asking questions because I feel like they annoy my teacher. Outliers told me that I am so quick to ask a question because that is how I was raised. This method which parents teach their children is called concerted cultivation. (104) "Lareau calls the middle-class parenting style 'concerted cultivation.' It's an attempt to actively "foster and assess a child's talents, opinions and skills." My parents are raising me so that I can get the most that I could out of school. So this is normal for me and it should be for everyone. Right? Wrong. Gladwell shares another type of parenting in the book. (104) "Poor Parents tend to follow, by contrast, a strategy of 'accomplishment of natural growth." I have seen this type of parenting through my dad. When my dad was a young boy his parents (My grandparents) didn't have a lot of money. My grandmother taught and raised my dad through discipline and order. But my dad never listened. My dad also never did good in school. All of these factors added together, and I think that I get an example of the "poor (as in money)" way of parenting. My dad never did well in school because his parents never taught him to express his opinions. So when he went to school why would he think that a teacher would care about what he had to say? But what way is the correct way to raise a child? Because I have been raised my whole life to ask questions I think that asking questions is the right thing to do. But in school, why do kids who are obviously not poor sit in the back and never share their opinions or ask any questions? Is asking questions really the right way to learn? Even though Gladwell neglects to share his opinion on which parenting style in his opinion is better, I think that again asking questions is the best way to gain intelligence. Concerted Cultivation is the only way to not become subordinate to other students and to society. Anyway, what is so bad about asking so many questions?
I step in to the familiar sanitized smelling office and I check in for my appointment. After thirty minutes of waiting I get sent to my room for my check up. After another thirty minutes the underpaid doctor steps into the room. Sticking a nasal microscope up my nasal passageway he looks to see if my sinuses are clear or if again I need to go under the knife to remove the unwanted visitors that stay in my nose. I am at a checkup with my ENT. These check ups happens twice a year. The ENT is short for ears, nose and throat doctor. My ENT has to check to see if my allergies are acting up. When I was in seventh grade, they found a mass in my sinuses which was caused by overactive allergies. So I had to go and get it surgically removed. I had known something was wrong because I was getting and have gotten severe headaches my whole life. The ENT determined my headaches were due to allergies such as tree pollen, moss, dust, dog hair exc. But was this really the only thing causing these headaches? (253) "...Tremendously concerned that children not get too much schooling. In 1871 for example, the US commissioner of education published a report by Edward Jarvis on the 'Relation of Education to Insanity.' Jarvis had studied 1,741 cases of insanity and concluded that 'over-study' was responsible for 205 of them." So was Alec James Lee going crazy? No but, I was "over-studying". The ENT had also concluded that I was over stressed. This stress was the other reason I was getting headaches. In school I always stressed out about things like studying and finishing homework. Even right now while writing this essay I have a headache. So reading Outliers made me understand that I need to focus on my studies and that I should do good in school. But I should do it in moderation because really, who wants to go crazy because of school?
A kid who doesn't have time to eat dinner because of school work. Who has heard of that one before? I have because I do this practically every weekday. Here is an example of an extremely busy day... a typical Thursday. I get up at 5:00 every morning, catch the bus at 6:40, go to school (not that bad!). Straight from school I go to my bowling match which if it is home ends at 5:30 and if it is away I usually get home around 6:00- 6:30. When I get home I eat (If I have time), change out of my bowling outfit then I'm right out of the door again. From 6:30 to 8:00 I have Chamber choir practice (Chamber choir is the top singing group at GHS.) Then from 8:00 to whenever I do all of my homework. Sometimes I am done with it at 10:00 (I prefer to go to bed at this time) and other times I am up until 11:00. I have a cram packed schedule so like the students at the KIPP middle schools, I have had to cut out leisure time and activities. (266) "... (At a friend's house) So I would be at her house and I would be doing my homework...And she was so discouraged because we stayed until five and we had a lot of homework, and I told her that us having a lot of homework helps us do better in class. And she told me she didn't want to hear the whole speech. All my friends are know from KIPP." I can relate to this girl named Marita. I mean I have friends that aren't from GHS and I don't do my homework at their house. Instead though I have given up my time. I don't have time anymore to relax and watch TV with my family. I'm too busy to watch TV by myself even. I used to love to watch all of my shows like American idol, national geographic, man vs. wild and more, but like Marita I have given up my personal time in order to become a successful person. (266) "...To become a success at what they did, they had to shed some part of their own identity." My identity was family and the wildlife channel but now it is an overachiever who doesn't stop until the work is done.
Stress, concerted cultivation and a packed schedule. All part of my life as Alec lee and a part of the lives of the people in the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. This book is not like others. Although I have said to other people that this book is horrible, it is all a lie. I love this book. Outliers made me feel like I was not so strange. That I'm not the only one that thinks too much school can become overwhelming. I'm not the only one courageous enough to ask twenty questions in one eighty minute class. It allowed me to realize that I'm not the only person who gives up part of their identity for the reward of intelligence and success. And who knows...Maybe I'm not overachieving but everyone else is underachieving.
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