The Terrible Curse Of "Most Likely To Succeed"
LatestIt’s no longer enough for kids to work their asses off in high school so they can win the increasingly cutthroat race for the best colleges. Now there’s something else to consider: the “Most Likely To Succeed” Curse.
Sue Shellenberger of the Wall Street Journal describes this scourge: “Some former winners of the title say what seemed like a nice vote of confidence from their classmates actually created a sense of pressure or self-doubt.” Sometimes the Curse takes Coleridgeian proportions — says Blake Atwood, “Being noosed with ‘most likely to succeed’ is like lugging an albatross to every job interview, new relationship or writing endeavor.” For some it’s a marker of high expectations — Brandon Hogan says, “I wanted in some way to be a leader for the people who were paying attention to me back home.” And sometimes, it takes a stranger form: Sakita Holley had “success” tattooed on her back, changed her middle name to “success” on Facebook, and founded a PR company called “House of Success.”