Ivy League Snobs

I once thought that there was a correlation between one's academic achievements and ability to live as a responsible member of a community. Having served, however, in various leadership positions of student organizations since my high school years, I have arrived at an unfortunate conclusion that I was utterly mistaken in ever believing such a correlation exists.

In fact, at Dartmouth, where the nation's brightest students supposedly come together to study, there seems to be a disproportionate number of irresponsible people who have no clue about the social mores that facilitate human relationships, such as the guidelines to carry out intelligent oral discourses or the definition of classroom decorum. The overwhelming prevalence of such students can only be traced to one source: many of us have been pampered by our parents and teachers, who forgave us for being self-centered when they ought to have scolded us -- for we made stellar grades, joined the proud ranks of the Ivy League elite and made them tipsy with our promising prospects at the likes of Goldman, Sachs.

The result of this tragic (im)moral education is that many have acquired, for instance, the habit of redefining the words "I will do it," by which they often mean, "I will probably do it," "I will do it if my billions of other commitments are not in my way of accomplishing it" or "I will do it if I don't forget." Furthermore, they do not feel even the slightest shame when they neglect to fulfill their promises, because they have always gotten away with ignoring obligations.

You may think at this point that not enough is at stake for students to commit themselves seriously to student organizations, and thus the problem can easily be solved with financial incentives. Surely in the corporate world where people's jobs are on the line, they would avoid saying too carelessly, "I will do it!" because if they fail to follow through their words, they might find themselves in the unemployment line the next day. I, for one, endorsed this line of reasoning in the past.

However, a recent conversation with my father -- who has had a long career with a Japanese multinational corporation, working extensively with both Americans and Japanese -- has enlightened me with the sad truth that signs of irresponsibility are rather common in the workplace. In the long run, where one obtains a college degree certainly means nothing, and intelligence can carry one only so far. Oftentimes, he says, intangible personal qualities like responsibility more significantly determine the degree of one's success in the cut-throat world of business.

So, I present five ways to become responsible for the Ivy League snobs who should learn to exercise responsibility before they are hurled into the real world:

1. Do not let obligations conflict. If you are asked to help out for a culture night sponsored by a certain ethnic organization, make sure you do not have a midterm the next day. You might think that such an insight is rudimentary. Unfortunately, I have been in a situation where a person agreed to undertake a task on a certain evening when he knew he had already committed himself to another obligation at the same time.

2. If it just happens that you failed to prevent a conflict in obligations, delegate your responsibility to those around you. Life is unpredictable; you cannot forever avoid a dilemma of this nature. When you encounter one, you should promptly ask your friends for a favor.

3. If you cannot delegate your responsibility in time due to unforeseen circumstances, inform as soon as possible those who would be adversely affected by your failure to fulfill an obligation. Take note of this: There are people who are counting on your fulfilling your obligation and would be placed in awkward situations if you failed to do so.

4. Be open to criticisms. When someone expresses displeasure about your ways of handling certain issues, pause before you let your anger overcome your reason. It is a cliche to say that no one is perfect, but very few people seem to understand the statement. Being imperfect means you should listen to the words that may help to improve your character, and thus your sense of responsibility.

5. Know your limitations. This is particularly pertinent for students like us who are used to being surrounded by listening audiences. Try assessing your strengths and weaknesses accurately and, perhaps, admitting once in a while, "Well, I'm not comfortable taking on this task because I don't think I can do a decent job." Such words, when spoken often enough, become the building blocks of a healthy community. You might be surprised.