Good Enough?

A few days ago in American studies class, we were discussing different indicators of class, including income, occupation, and education. We were shown a chart that made me think twice about my own education. I always thought that if I settled for a bachelor's degree in college, I might as well just not go. I'm sure a lot of students at New Trier think this. But in reality, according to this chart, the majority of people in the United States do not have a bachelor's degree, meaning that having one would put someone in a high social class.

 After this discussion, ACT scores were sent out, and I knew that many students at New Trier would feel like failures because of their scores. In this skewed universe, I have come to learn that getting a 29 apparently means that you are going nowhere in life and will end up living on the streets. After a weeks of listening to people whine about their scores, I decided to look into it a little and see whether these people with 29s were really as dumb as they thought they were. According to the Chicago Tribune, the average ACT score at New Trier is a 27.5, which I will round to a 28 for convenience sake. Meanwhile, the state average is a 20.6, or a 21 which is around the National average as well. I then looked at some percentile rankings on the ACT website and these were really telling. If the average student at New Trier (who apparently is an idiot)gets a 28, they would place in the 91st percentile. That means that only 9 percent of students in the nation scored higher than them.

Unfortunately, in an environment like New Trier, students are forced into thinking they are mediocre, even though they are actually scoring higher than most other students in the nation. I would just like to point out to any of the "average" students at New Trier that although you think you're not that smart because you got a 28, you are not going to end up living on the streets like a hobo.

 This leads me to question: Why do average people in upper class societies see themselves as average failures and what is so bad about mediocrity?