Sorry guys, this post isn't on graduation, but rather another topic: preconceived illusions.
I'm usually a pretty modest girl who is occasionally shy as well. All my teachers, classmates, and employers have always said I was a respectful, unpretentious, and unpresuming person. However, now whenever someone asks me where I'm going to school - or will be heading off to school, I'm met with biased judgments.
I awkwardly respond with a "Um..." followed by the name of my Ivy League institution and I receive one of the two responses:
1. Amazement - general belief that I am highly intelligent and ambitious, which isn't so bad until the following occurs...
2. A "joke" about the pretentious way which I said the name of my college, which, I assure you, I did not. Or a "Ooh you're one of those kids."
There is a preconceived notion that I am some pretentious, all-knowing, patronizing person, when in fact, I AM NOT. I have a lot of faults, but being rude through pretentiousness is not one of them.
So yes, people often see what they only want to see. Maybe that's why I was told that students in my school started just responding with the state of their college rather than the name.
I do miss the days when I could say the name of my public school and people would instead respond, well, normally rather than feign interest because of my future elite education.
I'm usually a pretty modest girl who is occasionally shy as well. All my teachers, classmates, and employers have always said I was a respectful, unpretentious, and unpresuming person. However, now whenever someone asks me where I'm going to school - or will be heading off to school, I'm met with biased judgments.
I awkwardly respond with a "Um..." followed by the name of my Ivy League institution and I receive one of the two responses:
1. Amazement - general belief that I am highly intelligent and ambitious, which isn't so bad until the following occurs...
2. A "joke" about the pretentious way which I said the name of my college, which, I assure you, I did not. Or a "Ooh you're one of those kids."
There is a preconceived notion that I am some pretentious, all-knowing, patronizing person, when in fact, I AM NOT. I have a lot of faults, but being rude through pretentiousness is not one of them.
So yes, people often see what they only want to see. Maybe that's why I was told that students in my school started just responding with the state of their college rather than the name.
I do miss the days when I could say the name of my public school and people would instead respond, well, normally rather than feign interest because of my future elite education.
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