Best in Class

Found this amusing article, "Best in Class", in the most recent issue of The New Yorker illustrating just how cut-throat competitive it is nowadays to become a high school valedictorian (article link here). Having been one myself, I can relate to many if not all of the issues discussed including whether it is fair or desirable to reward those who "game" the grade point system. However, in my case, because I and the other four "in contention" for the top award were all fairly close friends, having been in the same classes since primary or middle school, there was always a feeling of camaraderie present that trumped any need or desire to one-up each other. And it helped that our school district maintained a twelve-point GPA system (instead of the customary four-points) making ties less of an issue. Anyhow it seemed as if it was all for naught as the luster of being a valedictorian was soon wiped away; during the first day of freshman orientation at Berkeley's College of Engineering, the Dean asked for a show of hands asking how many had graduated at the top of their high school class. More than two-thirds raised their hands. Two-thirds! I still cringe at the thought. It was like a bucket of cold, wet reality thrown smack at our faces. In the span of a single summer break, we all went from being in the top one-tenth of one percent of our peer group to being simply "average". That was my first lesson as a wide-eyed freshman at Berkeley. Not a lesson in math, science, or engineering, but rather a lesson in life, of the value of being grounded and never taking yourself too seriously. That alone was worth one year of tuition.