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Where You Go Is Not Who You Ll Be By Frank Bruni

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After high school, most students attend college in order to become qualified for a successful future career. In today’s society, attending a top-rated university or Ivy League institution is seen as the ticket for embarking on such a path. Yet because these programs are so competitive, the application process has become unnecessarily devastating, involving extensive test prep, unending academic pressure, exhaustive hours of extracurricular activities that may or may not earn a student an impressive mark of distinction, and emotionally draining interviews, campus visits, and networking events. The message revolving around college admissions is even worse than the agony of the application process itself—a message that a student’s worth and value …show more content…
The college application process today is one of the most stressful experiences high school students can undergo since they are often barraged with images of success in the form of Ivy League acceptance letters. Yet in his book Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be, Frank Bruni expounds that this preconceive notion is erroneous and asks us to question the validity of this message by filling his book with compelling personal anecdotes and examples. Bruni aptly weaves elements of ethos, pathos, and logos to make his reader reconsider the relationship between college acceptance and long-term fulfillment. He effectively reminds us that life is more than a list of achievements; it is a journey involving repeated risk. Bruni asks us to remember that the main point of college is to learn about oneself so that one can embark on the most fulfilling path possible. His writing galvanizes us to follow our heart and make the most of those opportunities independently sought out and experienced, without being restricted by the rank of the college. Perhaps if his message reaches all high school students, then we can focus more on our passion and our school experience, rather than the stress of achieving a reputation from a prestigious

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