Bittersweet compromise, albeit comes with recklessness and irrationality

Portia’s decision to admit Jeremiah Balakian and reject Jesse Bolton falls far from heroic in my opinion, to sum it in one word, bittersweet. Her ability to see through a student who is your atypical Princeton student in the sense that Jeremiah’s transcript is sub-par and his extra-curricular activities literally non-existent is somewhat moving. However, she does so at the expense of another student, which is where I come into disagreement with her decision. Jesse Bolton deserved his spot at Princeton, and despite the fact that he was going to go to Yale, he at least deserved recognition as a fantastic candidate, acknowledgement towards his life’s worth of hard work and well-earned achievements. Jesse Bolton would have undoubtedly felt somewhat disappointed, maybe even confused by his denial from Princeton and probably would have been discouraged to apply to Princeton University in the future should he ever choose to go to graduate school. Portia’s knowledge of Jesse Bolton’s choice to go to Yale did not come from Jesse Bolton himself, it came from an outside source. High school seniors are clueless when it comes down to life-changing decisions such as choosing which university offer to accept and which to decline. For all we know, he could have been persuaded to attend Princeton had he been given the opportunity to do so.

I never shared the same vision as Portia when it came to Jeremiah Balakian. Impressive at it was that he managed to take numerous AP exams without the educational privileges others had, as a whole I did not see the potential in him that made him exceptional in relation to the pool of well-rounded, deserving candidates. It never really occurred to me that Jeremiah would contribute to the Princeton community, that his life at Princeton would constitute isolating himself from his peers and dedicating his time to the academics solely. I stand firm to Clarence’s reaction towards Portia’s foolish actions. Clarence demonstrated professionalism and made Portia well aware of her misdemeanour, and her punishment was rightly justified. The decision was reckless though, and detrimental to her future which considering her age was not in her best interest. Portia forced herself into a brick wall – she can no longer make a future as an admissions officer and as Portia herself said, when she came out of college she had no idea where she wanted to head with her life and I have the feeling that she still retains that sense of unknowingness.

Portia’s encounters with Mark and John at the end of the book are surprising to me. Personally, I feel like she should have made amends with John more than Mark considering Mark’s infidelity and the fact that Portia walked out on John despite him causing her no harm. John was too lenient to Portia, given their circumstances and the history of their previous meeting. That carelessness to matters which should have been taken more seriously gives a negative undertone to the nature of their relationship, that I feel their relationship thrives purely on each other’s physical needs rather than emotional. I have no doubts that Portia and John will continue seeing each other but their relationship feels shallow and transient.