I’m short. This isn’t really a shocking statement. There are many characteristics that I have, but being tall… Well that’s not one of them. I’m not a great guesser, but if I were to ask you three things that you first noticed about me, there’s probably a good chance that being short was one of them. That’s alright, no problem, Being a sophomore boy in high school who is a mere 5’3” has its advantages…I’m great at limbo, I can reach the low cabinets, I save money on clothes and shoes because I still fit in youth items, I can play in the playplaces at Mcdonalds without getting caught, and if any of my future plans fail, I can always become a world-class jockey. However, The problem is, I always want to grow. I always have the high expectation
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But, what exactly does it mean to have high expectations? What separates a low to moderate expectation, to a high one? Well, according to the Glossary of Education Reform, the concept of high expectations could be seen as an antipode to the often heard phrase, “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” which refers to the lowering of expectations… That seems pretty simple, having high expectations is the exact opposite of low expectations. Makes sense, right? A high expectation is not going into the classroom expecting to bomb the final, but instead expecting to ace it. Not a bad strategy, but if you do anything less than ace it, there’s a good chance for some disappointment. Not only can high expectations pave the way for disappointment, but they can make us believe we are superhuman, in a way that’s not for the better. According to Peter Bregman, a writer for the Harvard Business Review, we take high expectations too far. He states that, “We slip so easily into criticisms of ourselves and those around us-- family, friends, coworkers, public figures-- that we no longer expect people to be human beings. And when we shame ourselves and others for failing, we make things worse. We contribute to pain while nurturing impotence.” Bregman couldn’t be more correct on this point, but it doesn’t end there. Let’s extend on the point he made, that we shame ourselves and others when we fail to achieve our high expectations. Shame is a painful feeling of …show more content…
If somebody calls me short, I take it, and try to use it to my advantage. Yet, when I find out I’m not growing much, I get disappointed. This is something that happens to me, but now let’s look at some contemporary examples of these happening in the real world to multiple people. Now, in this speech we have seen some of my personal experience with high expectations and the disappointment that follows, but let’s look at some that might affect you, or others around us. First, let’s look at one example that has been pretty popular in the world, and especially in the united states a few months ago. The lottery. This winter, the powerball jackpot rose to 1.5 Billion dollars, and millions of americans were splurging on tickets, buying up to 15,000 at a time, disregarding the fact that they had little to no chance of actually winning. Then, when the numbers were announced that evening, and the numbers they picked were not drawn, they had two options. they could either make like Taylor Swift and shake it off, thinking it was a good try. On the other hand, others will make like Justin Timberlake, and Cry me a River when they don’t win that hefty jackpot, especially after spending extreme amounts of money on tickets, and imagining all the things that that money would have purchased. Since this is a pretty generic example that affects millions of Americans, let’s look at an example that hits home for educators, parents and students. You see,
But, what exactly does it mean to have high expectations? What separates a low to moderate expectation, to a high one? Well, according to the Glossary of Education Reform, the concept of high expectations could be seen as an antipode to the often heard phrase, “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” which refers to the lowering of expectations… That seems pretty simple, having high expectations is the exact opposite of low expectations. Makes sense, right? A high expectation is not going into the classroom expecting to bomb the final, but instead expecting to ace it. Not a bad strategy, but if you do anything less than ace it, there’s a good chance for some disappointment. Not only can high expectations pave the way for disappointment, but they can make us believe we are superhuman, in a way that’s not for the better. According to Peter Bregman, a writer for the Harvard Business Review, we take high expectations too far. He states that, “We slip so easily into criticisms of ourselves and those around us-- family, friends, coworkers, public figures-- that we no longer expect people to be human beings. And when we shame ourselves and others for failing, we make things worse. We contribute to pain while nurturing impotence.” Bregman couldn’t be more correct on this point, but it doesn’t end there. Let’s extend on the point he made, that we shame ourselves and others when we fail to achieve our high expectations. Shame is a painful feeling of …show more content…
If somebody calls me short, I take it, and try to use it to my advantage. Yet, when I find out I’m not growing much, I get disappointed. This is something that happens to me, but now let’s look at some contemporary examples of these happening in the real world to multiple people. Now, in this speech we have seen some of my personal experience with high expectations and the disappointment that follows, but let’s look at some that might affect you, or others around us. First, let’s look at one example that has been pretty popular in the world, and especially in the united states a few months ago. The lottery. This winter, the powerball jackpot rose to 1.5 Billion dollars, and millions of americans were splurging on tickets, buying up to 15,000 at a time, disregarding the fact that they had little to no chance of actually winning. Then, when the numbers were announced that evening, and the numbers they picked were not drawn, they had two options. they could either make like Taylor Swift and shake it off, thinking it was a good try. On the other hand, others will make like Justin Timberlake, and Cry me a River when they don’t win that hefty jackpot, especially after spending extreme amounts of money on tickets, and imagining all the things that that money would have purchased. Since this is a pretty generic example that affects millions of Americans, let’s look at an example that hits home for educators, parents and students. You see,