You were designed for one purpose. Because you have not discovered that purpose does not mean it does not exist. You have strengths beyond measure, you may have gifts under-developed, but you certainly were desired for something special. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
America was built by people united for one purpose. They were building up families, communities, townships, cities, counties, states, and one nation "under God." They could respectfully disagree and encouraged debates because no one is 100% right all the time. Even colleges had competitions where "Debate Teams" could argue their positions and this fostered clarity in understanding. Unfortunately, debates of today are neither respectful and seldom involve facts or truth. They have become stomping grounds for shame, blame, and slander. Colleges used to promote analytical analysis, and they are now battle fields for hate crimes against any individuals who are non-conformists. It was the non-conformists of the past who were the trail-blazers of the future. The creators of new innovations required independent thinking once praised by scholars world wide. Look who in the past 100 years have been the founders of technology, science, and industry and everyone of them was an out of the box thinker. They went against the norm and looked for the path less traveled. They went into unexplored territories and found solutions for their problems. They understood that to be successful they had to strive toward it, work hard for it, fail and learn from their failures, and press through their fear to courage. When they reached their personal goals, they felt accomplished, they felt successful. They were unique.
Today's leaders and educators are promoting equality over excellence. The lowering of standards of excellence has become a common pathway toward success. Instead of striving to be the best I can be, I now receive equal portion with no effort. Instead of feeling successful based on my own merits, I can bring everyone down to my degree of mediocrity and happily coexist with others who are like me. As long as I have what everyone else has I can feel rewarded and even successful. Remove any level of competition because it is unfair that some won't win. If there are no winners then there also will be no losers. In this scenario no one wins and everyone fails.
One example of this is Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. An article in the Quillette the author demonstrates how diversity does not necessarily equate to equality in numbers. This week, a group of about 200 students, parents, alumni, and concerned local residents flooded the sidewalk in front of America’s number-one-ranked public high school,
"The parents included Norma Muñoz, a Peruvian immigrant who told us she was there to “fight for TJ” (as the school is known locally). Other parents were from China, India, and South Korea. They stepped forward, one by one, to describe their families’ journeys—from marching in Tiananmen Square decades ago to arriving in the United States with only dollars in their pockets."
According to the article "a small but vocal group" has stated the school's "race-blind, merit-based admissions system of standardized tests, grade rankings, essays, and teacher recommendations with a process based on random selection from among applicants who have a core class GPA of 3.5 or greater (and are currently enrolled in algebra) is systemically racist even though "79 percent are minority, mostly from immigrant Asian families, many of whom fled persecution and economic privation." Only 19% of the student population is white. Changes in their enrollment processes would lower the quality of applicants and the number of "black and Hispanic students would increase only marginally."
The definition of equality has changed from an equal opportunity to strive toward excellence to one where everyone should get the same thing. Do equal numbers equate to equal experience? The answer is no. No two people growing up in the same household experience life exactly the same. Families with more than one child experience diverse educational experiences where one child may excel in school and the other fail. So how can we expect everyone to be the same in every situation? It is impossible to have everyone get a 4.0 gpa that means anything. Lowering a basket ball hoop so everyone can dunk does not make them quality players. Lowering the bar that defines what is excellent makes no one excellent.
You can open all the doors to education, lower all the standards of entrance, water down the curriculum, and you still will not get the equal numbers you desire. Not everyone wants an education. Not everyone wants to go to school. Not everyone wants to get a career, build a business, or work that hard. The numbers will fluctuate very little no matter how widely the door is opened. Some people just don't want to enter. The problem lies in motivation for the student to learn. A teacher can teach, but it's up to the student to learn. It's up to the student's parents to provide a support system at home that fosters learning years before the student enters a classroom. Parents teach a child they can be successful and how they can overcome adversity. Parents have the power to effect changes for their children's future more than any school can. Hillary Clinton used to say, "It takes a village" and yes, I agree it does, but it doesn't start in Kindergarten. It starts at birth and in the home.