The constant degradation of genuine accomplishment is ridiculous. In every newspaper, magazine or newscast, what is the focus? Is it on the assiduous worker, the future engineer? The pre-Bill Gates? Or on the latest scandal or sports team? Teachers often assure that academic success is far more valuable than popularity, fame or beauty. The question is: Who's buying it? Certainly not the athlete who is immersed in a varsity sport, nor the shy, academically intense student who pores over news concerned with athletes, celebrities and the elite.
College is the goal for those who wish to surpass the simple accomplishments of a sport or popularity and make a difference in the world. You need a brain to attend, no matter how impressive your athletic achievements. But how can students be concerned with this when the focus is on the glory that accompanies fame?
Where is the applause for individuals who work every day to better society? If these people are so insignificant, let's leave it to our future athletes to solve global warming, world hunger and restructure the economy. We do not lack interesting individuals; we lack the interest to be intellectuals.
