My Response to David Brooks

In David Brooks article "This Is Not About You" he says that the graduating senior class has been "ill served by their elders". Brooks states that high school seniors have been "ill served" by being constant, monitored, tutored, coached and honed and basically told what to do throughout their childhood and then teenage years. The only time I have personally seen this in my own everyday life was growing up in my early childhood years. Going through elementary and junior high I remember always having a set schedule, and always being stayed on top of by teachers and my parents. That all changed for me when I went to high school. The high school I attended was a private Christian school and it was more about getting to school, getting your work done and if you didn't then that was your problem. The teachers were all about enjoying high school but their main goal was helping their students prepare and get ready for either the working life or college life. This definitely was a change but it was such a help to growing up and becoming responsible. My parents were always ones also to of course guide me and my siblings but they were also more about teaching us things that would help us when we finally went out on our own. The skills my parents taught us and the way they raised us definitely compared to the way I was learning to fend for myself in high school which really helped when my parents split half way through high school. I really had to step up and take care of many things and become one of the adults. I know none of this is irrelevant but this is where I don't feel like every student is completely "ill served." Yes I agree that most students are babied and are continuously being handed everything even after graduating high school. I know a few people first hand that still are not learning their own way. They are still having their parents or some sort of guardian still having a set schedule for them even though they are cities away and on their own. So to an extent I feel I can agree and disagree with Brooks. I feel its truly about how your raised, who your raised by and what their life techniques are and lastly what your atmosphere is.

The difference between "finding yourself" and "loosing yourself" as stated in Brooks article is that just because you've graduated high school doesn't mean you should have every little thing in your life ahead planned. Brooks states "most people don't form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem and the self is constructed gradually by their calling". That statement to me is a way of saying just because you may thing you have your whole life planned does not mean your course or path cant change at any given moment. I feel as if finding yourself is the most important part and that people need to realize there isn't a time limit on when that should happen and their isn't a right or wrong way to finding yourself.