{"id":6871,"date":"2025-04-21T13:54:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T17:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/?p=6871"},"modified":"2025-04-21T13:58:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T17:58:18","slug":"enduring-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/2025\/04\/21\/enduring-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Enduring the Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Education can be a tricky field to navigate for anyone. Throughout the course of this research project, I have become increasingly interested in the ways in which youngins have the ability to navigate certain pressures pinned against them while enduring school in an elite institution. As I continue to understand the ins and outs of specific students\u2019 lived experiences at Olive Grove, in Jordan, I have noticed a rigid intersection between \u201celite pressures\u201d and elite education systems. One specific exterior pressure I would like to highlight is this desire to \u201cconform\u201d to an elite mold. While many of these institutions, like Olive Grove, pride themselves on their diversity and holistic values, through reading various student transcripts, I uncovered an undertone of this \u201cneed to fit in\u201d. To dive a bit deeper into this desire to conform, I want to understand what specific drivers cause students to mold themselves into an elite student.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To understand this concept even further, I have chosen to explore the relationship between elite pressures and the idea of the “monster” as examined by Marx. Specifically, in the article by Kenway and Howard, <\/span>Elite Universities: Their Monstrous Promises and Promising Monsters<\/span><\/i>, they use the metaphor of the \u201cwerewolf\u201d to illustrate how elite institutions place intense, often damaging pressures onto their students as well as the fact that these institutions often tend to \u201ctransform\u201d students paths, wishes and desires. The metaphor portrays students as “monsters” which essentially means that these students are shaped by the overarching system they are part of. I found this to be a rather intriguing analogy: just as a werewolf undergoes a painful and somewhat uncontrollable transformation under the full moon, students at elite institutions are expected to transform themselves to meet the institutions\u2019 demands for excellence and sometimes conformity. This transformation is not always voluntary; it is driven by the unspoken desire to succeed, obtain power and gain prestige. As a result, students may begin to lose touch with their true selves. The \u201cwerewolf\u201d metaphor highlights how elite institutions, in their pursuit of creating \u201cpromising monsters,\u201d often end up producing students who are perhaps emotionally overtaken and shaped by the institution\u2019s intense expectations of themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this is the case for many, I would like to note that not every student feels and experiences these pressures in a negative tone. Some students at elite institutions are able to transform the pressure to conform into an opportunity for meaningful self-growth. For instance, the student I have been studying quite in depth throughout this research project prides themselves on their civic engagement as well as their ability to compete with close friends academically and socially which is something they would attribute in part to their institution. While reading through the transcripts, I discovered an interesting response to the question: \u201cWhat kind of social pressures do you experience at school? Or pressure from your peers to do well in school?\u201d The response goes as follows: \u201cThere is a huge competition and everyone wants to become something. You feel like there is a competition within class, within activities, but you\u2019re all friends at the same time. It doesn\u2019t feel bad! I think it\u2019s good to have competition, even with my closest friends. We do work hard and I think there is a huge competition in this school for everyone to be the best. But I think it\u2019s a good thing\u201d. This truly highlights the fact that students at Olive Grove, as well as many elite institutions across the board, feel this pressure to succeed, however, this desire to \u201cconform\u201d only plays its role in certain students\u2019 lives. This makes me wonder what factors contribute to certain individuals needing to transform into an elite mold? And how do others have the inner wherewithal to overcome these pressures?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking into consideration the \u201cwerewolf\u201d metaphor I\u2019ve mentioned above, it is important to understand the ways in which students experience social and educational pressures tended specifically towards those in elite institutions. For example, many elite schools often pride themselves as producing \u201cfuture leaders\u201d which could mean that students may feel burdened by the expectation to become activists, democratic leaders or innovators before they\u2019ve even graduated. While it is human to occasionally feel this need to fit in, or to conform, I have found it incredibly intriguing to uncover the hidden truths about how these pressures are heightened through the lens of a student submerging themselves in their education and social lives at elite institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

Jane Kenway & Adam Howard (2022) Elite universities: Their monstrous promises and promising monsters, Curriculum Inquiry, 52:1, 75-96, DOI: 10.1080\/03626784.2021.1994837 To link to this article: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03626784.2021.1994837\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/div>More <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \t <\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Education can be a tricky field to navigate for anyone. Throughout the course of this research project, I have become increasingly interested in the ways in which youngins have the ability to navigate certain pressures pinned against them while enduring school in an elite institution. As I continue to understand the ins and outs of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11464,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"builder_content":"

Education can be a tricky field to navigate for anyone. Throughout the course of this research project, I have become increasingly interested in the ways in which youngins have the ability to navigate certain pressures pinned against them while enduring school in an elite institution. As I continue to understand the ins and outs of specific students\u2019 lived experiences at Olive Grove, in Jordan, I have noticed a rigid intersection between \u201celite pressures\u201d and elite education systems. One specific exterior pressure I would like to highlight is this desire to \u201cconform\u201d to an elite mold. While many of these institutions, like Olive Grove, pride themselves on their diversity and holistic values, through reading various student transcripts, I uncovered an undertone of this \u201cneed to fit in\u201d. To dive a bit deeper into this desire to conform, I want to understand what specific drivers cause students to mold themselves into an elite student.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/p>

To understand this concept even further, I have chosen to explore the relationship between elite pressures and the idea of the \"monster\" as examined by Marx. Specifically, in the article by Kenway and Howard, Elite Universities: Their Monstrous Promises and Promising Monsters<\/i>, they use the metaphor of the \u201cwerewolf\u201d to illustrate how elite institutions place intense, often damaging pressures onto their students as well as the fact that these institutions often tend to \u201ctransform\u201d students paths, wishes and desires. The metaphor portrays students as \"monsters\" which essentially means that these students are shaped by the overarching system they are part of. I found this to be a rather intriguing analogy: just as a werewolf undergoes a painful and somewhat uncontrollable transformation under the full moon, students at elite institutions are expected to transform themselves to meet the institutions\u2019 demands for excellence and sometimes conformity. This transformation is not always voluntary; it is driven by the unspoken desire to succeed, obtain power and gain prestige. As a result, students may begin to lose touch with their true selves. The \u201cwerewolf\u201d metaphor highlights how elite institutions, in their pursuit of creating \u201cpromising monsters,\u201d often end up producing students who are perhaps emotionally overtaken and shaped by the institution\u2019s intense expectations of themselves.<\/p>

While this is the case for many, I would like to note that not every student feels and experiences these pressures in a negative tone. Some students at elite institutions are able to transform the pressure to conform into an opportunity for meaningful self-growth. For instance, the student I have been studying quite in depth throughout this research project prides themselves on their civic engagement as well as their ability to compete with close friends academically and socially which is something they would attribute in part to their institution. While reading through the transcripts, I discovered an interesting response to the question: \u201cWhat kind of social pressures do you experience at school? Or pressure from your peers to do well in school?\u201d The response goes as follows: \u201cThere is a huge competition and everyone wants to become something. You feel like there is a competition within class, within activities, but you\u2019re all friends at the same time. It doesn\u2019t feel bad! I think it\u2019s good to have competition, even with my closest friends. We do work hard and I think there is a huge competition in this school for everyone to be the best. But I think it\u2019s a good thing\u201d. This truly highlights the fact that students at Olive Grove, as well as many elite institutions across the board, feel this pressure to succeed, however, this desire to \u201cconform\u201d only plays its role in certain students\u2019 lives. This makes me wonder what factors contribute to certain individuals needing to transform into an elite mold? And how do others have the inner wherewithal to overcome these pressures?\u00a0<\/p>

Taking into consideration the \u201cwerewolf\u201d metaphor I\u2019ve mentioned above, it is important to understand the ways in which students experience social and educational pressures tended specifically towards those in elite institutions. For example, many elite schools often pride themselves as producing \u201cfuture leaders\u201d which could mean that students may feel burdened by the expectation to become activists, democratic leaders or innovators before they\u2019ve even graduated. While it is human to occasionally feel this need to fit in, or to conform, I have found it incredibly intriguing to uncover the hidden truths about how these pressures are heightened through the lens of a student submerging themselves in their education and social lives at elite institutions.<\/p>

Sources:<\/p>

Jane Kenway & Adam Howard (2022) Elite universities: Their monstrous promises and promising monsters, Curriculum Inquiry, 52:1, 75-96, DOI: 10.1080\/03626784.2021.1994837 To link to this article: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03626784.2021.1994837\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

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