While Portia's impression of the students whose applications she reads is generally positive, she finally expresses some sort of disdain towards them in the second passage of the reading. On page 82, her observations depict the averageness of these students, despite their place in such a top tier school. She remarks upo n their “identical Stabucks containers and identical backpacks…disappearing into orange anonymity” (Korelitz 82). On paper, students are able to hide their unoriginality beneath awards and recognitions and scores and extracurricular activities, making them appear remarkable and above and beyond their peers. However, in person, you cannot distinguish the extraordinary from the average; a person cannot be their resume one-hundred percent of the time.

I thought this idea was interesting, in that, on some level, all students at this age are relatively the same. While we might vary on levels of intelligence or ambition or drive, to some extent, we all have the same natural tendency to fit the social norms around us. It is hard, sometimes, to remember that as college kids, we are still that – kids. The college application process wreaks such havoc over our lives from the minute we step in the door on the first day of freshman year that it is hard to remember that we still are very young and inexperienced. In this way, we are encouraged as freshmen in high school to consider high school and consequently college as the ultimate path to adult success, as good college educations are equated with highly-demanded jobs.

However, to what extent should this pressure be a burden on students? Is it necessarily a bad thing that Portia perceives the students as ordinary, even though they are obviously not? I think there is something refreshing about being similar to one’s peers, as it is part of growing up: learning where you fit among the social scene that surrounds you. Especially at a place like Carnegie Mellon, where we are stereotypically socially awkward, it might not be such a bad thing if we take a break from being the extraordinary, bright young adults that we are and remember that we can take the time and relax and enjoy being young and ordinary, as well.