Matthew Effect Essay On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

My adrenaline was rushing; my heart was beating fast as I was walking on the stage to perform at a violin recital. I was really excited and happy that got I to perform my best potential to play a musical instrument. However, at the end of the recital, my happiness and excitement were gone because most of the students either receive “The Best performance Award” or “The Most Improve Award,” but I got neither. My mother said those students were at least two years older than me, so they had more time to practice more than I did. I did not really understand what my mother meant until I read chapter one of the book, “Outliers” written by Malcom Gladwell.
The first chapter of the book introduced me to the “Matthew Effect.” This effect is a phenomenon
that explain why “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” In Gladwell’s word, “…people who are successful are most likely to be given the kind of special opportunities that lead to further success”(30). One of the examples that Gladwell gives in the book comes from the Canadian Hockey League. The top players of the Canadian hockey team might come from different places, but they have one thing in common. 40% of the people were born between January and March. Another 30% were born between April and June. The last 30% were born between July and December. Coaches intentionally pick children that were born at the beginning of the year because they believe that those children might have better a potential. Even thought it is just few months difference, but it makes a huge difference for these children. Kids that are born at the beginning of the year are now getting “richer” simply because they were accidentally born on a certain date. However, some kids that also have real talent might happen to born later in the year, and they might never get the opportunities like kids who were born earlier. Some people might not believe in the Matthew Effect, but I experienced the Matthew Effect myself, through music, education, and sport.
I first experienced Matthew Effect in my musical education.
My older sisters and I started to play musical instruments when we turned five. Every Friday night, we would have our little concert at home with my parents as the audience. My family really loved the idea of the concert because it gathered us to spend quality family time together. However, I always liked spending time with my family, but I never liked the idea of performing music with my sisters at all. At that time, my sisters had been playing piano and violin for at least five years, but I had only been playing the instruments for a year. Because I was the last person to start learning how to play musical instruments, my skills were not as good as my sisters. Every time when we rehearse together, my sisters would always get mad at me for not playing perfectly. My sisters’ ability to play instruments is what sociologists called “accumulative advantage”(30). They did not realize that they had been playing instrument at least two years before I have started, and of course, they had been practicing more than I had been. My sisters’ anger made me not want to practice; my lack of improvement made me not want to play instrument at all. My sisters practiced music to for competitions, but I just wanted to play for fun. All of my teachers said I was the most talented in the house, but because my lack of improvement, no one believed in my
talent.
Secondly, I experienced the Matthew Effect in education.
When I was going to my first year of elementary school in Thailand, the school was not going to accept me because I was not completely six years old. The cut off was on September, but I was born in October. Yet, my mother did not want me to repeat a grade because it was a waste of time. My mom thought it was going to be okay, it actually had a huge effect on my life. I was always the youngest in the school class. When I was twelve, my parents transferred me to high school preparatory academy. They were hoping that I would be able to get into a top high school in Thailand. However, they did not think about I would I feel to be in the completely new environment. All of the classes were higher than regular middle school classes. Since the first semester that I transferred to the academy, I was behind in all of the classes because I came from regular school. Most of the students were studying at the academy since elementary school, and they were used to the higher level of classes. My teacher called me into her office and said that I should not be in this school because this school is for talented people. However, my teacher forgot the fact that my classmate has been train for school for so long. The accumulative advantage made depressed because I could not keep up in classes like other people. Since that day, I realized that I had to work harder than other people. Finally, I could keep up with other
people.
Lastly, I experienced Matthew Effect through sport. I have been playing golf for four years before I went to high school. Freshmen year of high school, my friend and I went to tryout for the golf team and hoping that we could play for the Varsity team. My friend and I got into the team, but we only got into Junior Varsity team. I really believed that I was going to get into Varsity team because my average score was pretty high. However, my coach told me that because I was only a freshman, and he only allowed Junior and Senior to be in Varsity team. I was really upset because I was as good as the Varsity players, but I could not do anything because I was only a freshman. Those Junior and Senior are getting richer because people believe that they are better, so those students were offered with better opportunities. On the other hand, my friends and I were getting poorer because we did not receive those opportunities like those “rich” people did. A year later my friends and I got to play on Varsity team because they need more players. On that year, my high school got the second place on CCS Championship, and my friend even got into NorCal junior tournament.
People might believe or not believe in Matthew Effect. Although I experience it myself through music, education, and sport, but I believe that if I work hard on everything that I want to do; I can be as good as anyone else. Nowadays, I still play music instrument for fun, and I still work an extra mile on my academic. I also had proven to my high school golf coach that not only older students can be good at golf, but also anyone could be. Matthew Effect might have a huge impact on people’s lives, but they should not let that stop them from doing things they passionate about.