At first, this article struck a nerve and I found myself agreeing for a while.
On second thought, however, I think the author falls to the other extreme of that which he is criticizing. I'm all for critiquing the vacuous "You're special! you DESERVE to be here!"
But to instead turn around and say "No, you don't deserve to be here! So EARN it!" is to trade a meaningless vague happy feeling for crushing pressure which turns to either arrogance when you succeed or despair when you fail.
Instead of making "earning" / "deserving" something the central point, why not focus on taking that which was given to you at birth and in your upbringing and education (much of which you did not "earn" or "deserve") and making the most of it? Not with the goal of "deserving" something but rather because otherwise the good that was given would go to waste.
On second thought, however, I think the author falls to the other extreme of that which he is criticizing. I'm all for critiquing the vacuous "You're special! you DESERVE to be here!"
But to instead turn around and say "No, you don't deserve to be here! So EARN it!" is to trade a meaningless vague happy feeling for crushing pressure which turns to either arrogance when you succeed or despair when you fail.
Instead of making "earning" / "deserving" something the central point, why not focus on taking that which was given to you at birth and in your upbringing and education (much of which you did not "earn" or "deserve") and making the most of it? Not with the goal of "deserving" something but rather because otherwise the good that was given would go to waste.