the big difference

A high school senior, one of our alumna, made the following statement. When you read it, think Drive; think Dan Pink.

“I think that most of the people I met in high school have been just as motivated as I have been. But if you look at the deeper reasons they want to do well, it’s completely different. When I went to high school, I didn’t know what a GPA was; I didn’t know about ‘the top ten percent.’ A lot of people I met came to high school with everything planned out: “You’ve got to play the game.” They were getting good grades to get into a good college, and I was getting good grades because I wanted to know the material and learn more about it. I guess it might seem like it’s not important why you’re motivated, as long as you do well. In college, it’s going to be a bit different, you’re going to see more of a divergence. I think the fact that we want to learn because we love to learn, not because our parents are making us—that’s the big difference I’ve seen.”