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Interesting how West Wing comes up in this because Sorkins emphasis on educational prestige in Newsroom, Social Network and to a lesser extent Molly’s Game is w

Interesting how West Wing comes up in this because Sorkins emphasis on educational prestige in Newsroom, Social Network and to a lesser extent Molly’s Game is what made me incredibly sad to graduate from a state school!

strikelaserclaw 6y ago
It is true that when you graduate from a prestigious university, society at large has a superficial notion of your competence/abilities at the outset, but in the long term, i think what you actually do as an individual defines you. There are tons of people who graduated from a great school xyz whose only real accomplishment is graduating from xyz. Do not let labels define what you can do with your life, once you buy into that game, you are mentally boomed for the rest of your life. Einstein certainly never said "oh i work at a patent office, which must mean i can't become a world class physicist", no one (or institution) owns creativity, knowledge, passion or drive, and those are the most important qualities that drive the world.
- akhilcacharya 6y ago
  Perhaps, but I’m no closer to having accomplished even a fraction of what a Harvard undergrad already has. Society perceiving me to be lesser and doomed to mediocrity wears on the soul!
  - strikelaserclaw 6y ago
    Nobody is perceiving you to be lesser, nobody is perceiving you at all for the most part, that would be true even if you went to Harvard. From your comments you said you went to NC state, i remember that one of the founders of cockroachdb also went there, it certainly didn't stop him from doing great things. What i do know for a fact, is that your negative, self pitying approach to life will do you much much more harm than where you work or where u went to school, and i suggest you reflect hard on that or get professional help.
    - akhilcacharya 6y ago
      Yeah, but the CockroachDB guy (Ben Darnell, really impressive guy) was a full scholarship student which I wasn't and joined Google early which I didn't, so it's hard to draw any hopeful comparisons there.
      - strikelaserclaw 6y ago
        But why would being able to draw comparison with the guy even be helpful? You won't suddenly turn into him. At the end of the day, you went to a relatively good school, work at a good company, what you can or cannot achieve going forward will be solely dictated by your merit. If your problem is that you feel that your abilities are not aligned with your goals in life, then you can either revise your goals or set yourself up for a lifetime of misery.
        akhilcacharya 6y ago
        Because trajectories don't change, it feels, after you graduate high school. Successful before, successful after seems to be pattern in my experience!

strikelaserclaw 6y ago

It is true that when you graduate from a prestigious university, society at large has a superficial notion of your competence/abilities at the outset, but in the long term, i think what you actually do as an individual defines you. There are tons of people who graduated from a great school xyz whose only real accomplishment is graduating from xyz. Do not let labels define what you can do with your life, once you buy into that game, you are mentally boomed for the rest of your life. Einstein certainly never said "oh i work at a patent office, which must mean i can't become a world class physicist", no one (or institution) owns creativity, knowledge, passion or drive, and those are the most important qualities that drive the world.

akhilcacharya 6y ago
Perhaps, but I’m no closer to having accomplished even a fraction of what a Harvard undergrad already has. Society perceiving me to be lesser and doomed to mediocrity wears on the soul!
- strikelaserclaw 6y ago
  Nobody is perceiving you to be lesser, nobody is perceiving you at all for the most part, that would be true even if you went to Harvard. From your comments you said you went to NC state, i remember that one of the founders of cockroachdb also went there, it certainly didn't stop him from doing great things. What i do know for a fact, is that your negative, self pitying approach to life will do you much much more harm than where you work or where u went to school, and i suggest you reflect hard on that or get professional help.
  - akhilcacharya 6y ago
    Yeah, but the CockroachDB guy (Ben Darnell, really impressive guy) was a full scholarship student which I wasn't and joined Google early which I didn't, so it's hard to draw any hopeful comparisons there.
    - strikelaserclaw 6y ago
      But why would being able to draw comparison with the guy even be helpful? You won't suddenly turn into him. At the end of the day, you went to a relatively good school, work at a good company, what you can or cannot achieve going forward will be solely dictated by your merit. If your problem is that you feel that your abilities are not aligned with your goals in life, then you can either revise your goals or set yourself up for a lifetime of misery.
      - akhilcacharya 6y ago
        Because trajectories don't change, it feels, after you graduate high school. Successful before, successful after seems to be pattern in my experience!