Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
movingthelimit.com
Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
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Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#2Good read. The problem is even worse with legacy Ivy league students.
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#3> It was how they felt safe — it was how they could maintain the fragile illusion of never-ending perfection and success.
Indeed. Learning to take action in the face of uncertainty and failure is a major challenge for this personality type, though it's possible to unlearn that tendency with enough practice.
I wrote about a similar dynamic here [1] if it's interesting.
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#4Another common reason for self-sabotage that the article doesn’t mention is ego.
Failure sucks, especially when it’s because you just aren’t good enough. But if you self-sabotage, at least you were right. You thought you’d fail and you did fail. Ego wins!
And who knows, maybe if you actually tried, you wouldn’t have failed! You weren’t not good enough after all, you just didn’t try. You totally could’ve done it if you wanted to, you just didn’t wanna.
Ego stays nice and safe.
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#5I studied at Harvard and the answer is that they want to pretend to be so smart and talented that they don't need to work. The image is of the effete aristocrat who enjoys life without lifting a finger.
Think of George W. Bush: Got into Yale (Harvard too!) because his blue-blood line always did. Mediocre grades. Lots of alcohol and drugs. (Quit that later.) Avoided Vietnam with the cushiest fun job as a fighter pilot who never flies out of Texas skies (and mostly skipped that too). Led some companies funded by his rich family. President twice.
Who wouldn't want that?
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#6[deleted]
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#7I studied at Harvard and the answer is that they want to pretend to be so smart and talented that they don't need to work. The image is of the effete aristocrat who enjoys life without lifting a finger. Think of George W. Bush: Got into Yale (Harvard too!) because his blue-blood line always did. Mediocre grades. Lots of alcohol and drugs. (Quit that later.) Avoided Vietnam with the cushiest fun job as a fighter pilot…
Smart and talented people need to work.
Wealthy people don't.
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#8I studied at Harvard and the answer is that they want to pretend to be so smart and talented that they don't need to work. The image is of the effete aristocrat who enjoys life without lifting a finger. Think of George W. Bush: Got into Yale (Harvard too!) because his blue-blood line always did. Mediocre grades. Lots of alcohol and drugs. (Quit that later.) Avoided Vietnam with the cushiest fun job as a fighter pilot…
I believe you and the author are describing two different types of students. The author describes students who want to work and succeed but are unable to cope with "real-world problems rather than contrived academic examples," whereas you seem to point to students who want instead to luxuriate in their self-perceived social class.
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#9Or maybe they realize that once there is "Ivy League" on your resume, you pretty much cannot fail at life and will always find a good job no matter what, so might as well have a good time, instead of spending all your free time studying in pursuit of prestige.
Re: Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
#10College is the time to fail if you’re going to do it, enjoy the freedom.
The consequences of failure only grow with age.