<p>@ kerry - From a 17-year-old’s perspective, I’d have to disagree with you. Kids today aren’t more accomplished… Rather, we’ve become into robots, competing for “top” places at universities because we believe that our lives would not be fulfilling otherwise. While we may boast 200 hours of community service and vast internships, we’ve essentially forgotten what we live for. We don’t want to work hard in high school because we want to learn; we want do do as much as we possibly can to look good on paper because we believe that if we get into Harvard we’ll be rewarded with “a stable life in 30 years”. We invest everything in the future, and forget about the now.</p>
<p>To me, that’s anything but accomplished. In trying to excel, we’ve lost the essence of who we are. It’s no wonder so many of the kids I know are panicking over the college essay. Who am I, now?</p>
<p>Hahaha. I guess you could call this an expression of “teenage angst”. I’ve had too many friends crying over B’s on math tests to be sane. 
Personally, I want to go to college because I want to learn. While I have pulled a few all-nighters to finish that English essay, I work hard because I want to know everything, not because my parents told me that “if you become a doctor, you’ll make lots of money!!!” And yeah, I do daydream and I do watch birds. I don’t take walks on crisp fall days, though, because I live in the desert and it’s rare that our fall days are crisp. LOL</p>
<p>(I’ve got to say, though, that I go to a very academically competitive school, so my view isn’t representative of the average kid’s! I do believe that there are level-headed kids out there NOT completely obsessed with their grades. They’re just pretty rare at my school.)</p>