Final Assignment 'Rumination Of Self: Outliers'

Jade Gallahair
Mrs. Tabitha Ginther
AP Language and Composition
2 December 2014
Rumination of Self: Outliers Final Assignment
Privileges/Advantages:
In my life I have been blessed with many privileges and advantages that others may have not had the opportunity to be exposed to. A major advantage that I’ve had during my life is growing up in a Christian home with both my parents, who care about my education. Growing up my parents always taught me that God comes first and my education comes second. I believe that having been raised with this mindset I have been at a higher advantage than most others. Having known that God comes first it has helped me set my morals to a high standard. Knowing that my schoolwork is also a top priority helped
me develop a good work ethic that I have carried with me throughout all of my school years and will continue to do so. If I ever came home from school and needed help on any school work my parents would sit down with me at the kitchen table and work with me until I understood the material.
My parents also took it upon themselves to make something that could help my sibling and I if we ever needed help in math. If I was ever struggling in math we would sit at the table and my parents would work out all problems on a chalkboard that took up a whole entire wall. My family has spent countless hours at that table and in front of that chalkboard just working on school work. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve sat there for ten thousand hours! They would never let us go or leave without knowing how to do the work we were having problems with. I believe that having grown up with this mindset of how to be given something and use it to your advantage will take me a long way in life, and not only will it benefit me but I can also pass on my habits of learning and becoming successful to others around me. Also having parents that taught me to never give up until you learn something will take me far in life and help me become a successful member of society. I have learned that there will be bumps in your life but you have
to work hard to overcome them, learn from them if you need to, and observe the situations. Doing so will result in making myself a more successful person.

Disadvantages/Oppressions: I think that one of my main disadvantages in life that I have had is lack of communication between myself and others. It has gotten better as I’ve gotten older and matured but it’s still not perfect. Communication is one of the most important keys to a successful life. Lack of communication can result in a very unsuccessful career and life. Sometimes the people who are talking to me might not have my full attention or focus on them, which would end up in me only getting part of what they said which would end up being miscommunication. In my later life this could become a huge problem, say if I was a doctor in the middle of a heart transplant. If my ears, eyes, and mind are not fully focused on the situation at hand, things could result in a very negative and terrible way. This is much like “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes” in Outliers. The plane crash was caused by one technical error and was followed by six human errors all from miscommunication between two men. Miscommunication during life will result in many crashes in life. Another disadvantage that many would think I have would be when I was born and how it correlates with schooling. Malcolm Gladwell says that kids who are born earlier in the year are more mature than those in the same grade born later in the year. The ones born earlier on in the year will therefore outperform the ones who were born later on in the year, and subsequent advantages accruing from such early differences accumulate over time to the great disadvantage of those unlucky enough to be born late in the year. The cutoff date for school is September and I was born in late July, therefore making me one of the youngest children in my grade. Being one of the youngest children in grade school can put a lot of pressure on a kid as an individual in their school lives. Since my brain has not had as much time to mature I would automatically be considered not as smart as the ones who are older in my grade. This is not always true but having been born during the later months I am considered to be at a lower advantage than the ones who were born earlier in the year.

Quotable Quotes: “Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.” This quote is one of the most relatable quotes from the book to me. My mom, dad, coach, teachers and many others always point out to me how important practice is. Practice is not only important in sports it is a key to success throughout all of life. A subject in school that requires a lot of practice is math. If one would like to master anything in life he or she must practice that multiple times or at least ten thousand hours to become successful at it. “It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success.
It’s the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It’s the best students who get the best teaching and most attention. And it’s the biggest nine- and ten-year-olds who get the most coaching and practice. Success is the result of what sociologists like to call “accumulative advantage.” This quote is an important one for everyone to read and understand because it tells few of the many advantages and opportunities that someone can have. It also says that people who are born with or into a family with natural advantages are already on the road to a more successful life. Certain qualities of a person can make them more likely to have a higher chance of getting more advantages than others. This relates to me in more than one way but one advantage that I have over others is having a twin. Having a twin for me is having my own body guard and someone to look up to at all times. For him I am his own organizer and help him keep up with everything and stay
organized. “In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.” Now that I have seen and heard this quote I completely agree with it and will always live by it. Rifle is a very difficult sport to become good at and compete in. I practice shooting every day after school for two hours. Sometimes it gets really tiring but to become good at it I know that I have to practice a lot. This quote just reinforces what my parents and coaches tell me each day. I have to learn to control my heartbeat and be a precise shooter and if anybody has ever taken part in a shooting team they will understand how hard it is.

Mindset: This book has changed the way I think tremendously. It has made me want to ask myself more questions about what advantages I have been given or faced with during my life and what may come in the future. It has made me make a mental list of advantages and disadvantages that I have taken or not taken part of during my life. It has made me look back on my life and realize how incredibly lucky I was to have grown up in a home where I have both parents who both have college degrees and well paying jobs. I have also realized that not very many people are blessed with families like mine who will work day and night with me to understand something or help better myself. I also found out that if you evaluate and take a look at your life and the things you are given you might be fortunate enough to scope out new advantages that you can partake in. One thing that I already knew I was extremely lucky to have in life is a family full of adults who are in the education system. Outliers just made it more clearly to me why that was such an advantage to me and how it has helped me become who I am today. Having access to teachers, principles, and counselors has helped me a lot during my high school years because I have been given first hand advice from people who have dealt with college applications and what colleges are looking for today. Reading the book Outliers has also helped me take my sport more seriously and has also made me understand that practice really does make perfect. A huge advantage that I have over others in the rifle sport is attending Northside and being a part of their rifle team. They have been the only sport to have won a state championship at the school and were also very prepared and equipped to do so. Rifle is an extremely expensive sport, it cost around ten thousand dollars for the basic shooting equipment and Northside was lucky enough to gather shooting materials for four shooters (which makes a whole team). Rifle is also a sport that uses a lot of your mind and being part of an undefeated team has put a positive image in my head as a shooter helping me to become better. Malcolm Gladwell is right in the fact that he says people who have advantages throughout their lives to become to be the more successful people in the world. Northside Highschool has had such a successful shooting team in the past and present because of the opportunities and advantages that they have been exposed to and taken part of.

Concept: Reading the book Outliers has also helped me take my sport more seriously and has also made me understand that practice really does make perfect. One of the most important concepts to understand is the ten thousand hour rule. He said it takes at least 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to truly master a skill, be it playing the violin, computer programming, or skateboarding. Gladwell explains several examples, from the Beatles to Bill Gates, and he argues that the biggest factor in their success is not innate talent or blind luck, but rather dedication to their hobby. I can take this concept and apply it to something I do in my own life which is shooting. I have been shooting competitively for two years now and although I’ve practiced every day after school for an hour to two hours I am nowhere near a perfect shooter. As Malcolm Gladwell says “dedicated practice makes perfect” and believe me he knows what he’s talking about! Although sometimes I may be tired of shooting or too tired of shooting I know that if I want to go any further with shooting I will have to practice for at least ten thousand hours.

Recipe for Personal Success:
Success to me is accomplishing any goals that I or someone else has set for me. I set goals for myself everyday whether it is with sports, academics, or character. I believe that for me to become a successful human in society I have to work hard and accomplish many things in life. I have to set goals in school such as learning and understanding what is being taught to me. I will also have to maintain a high shooting average to shoot on the college level. Character Ed is also very important to me, it is a word used to describe the teaching of becoming moral, civil, mannered, behaved, healthy, critical, and successful beings. My person success for the future contains majoring in Chemistry, attending medical school, and becoming a physician’s assistant. Accomplishing that will require me to set high goals for myself to accomplish as a student.

Missed Privileges/Opportunities:
A privilege that I have missed and not taken advantage of is to take part in more clubs or organizations at school. Being a part of clubs and organizations is one of the most important things to do during high school because it helps you with time management and responsibilities which are key points to becoming successful.