4.47's

Location

80021
United States
39° 53' 33.0612" N, 105° 6' 51.1236" W

This is for you.
You know who you are.
The nerdy kids. The smart kids. The,
“she’s just so bright for her age” daughters and the
“he’s always excelled at everything he’s done” sons
the wise guys the good kids the hard workers the rule followers the top 10% the built for the big timers the above standards the understanders the future of this country the believers the thinkers
This is for you.

This for you with
The 29 on the ACT and
The 2250 on the SAT and
The 4.47 weighted gpa and 3.9 unweighted
The ones who’ve done AP and IB and Honors and Accelerated classes
The ones with the resume ten miles long filled to the brim with service
For others
for everyone
With projects large and small and countless hours (all perfectly accounted for)
The ones “destined” for University.
Right, just like you’ve been told?

This is for you
Who were deferred from their from their first choice Ivy League
You know the one.
Where everyone said,
“Sweetie don’t worry, they take the kids with the 6.0gpa first, the one’s who genetically engineer plants to bloom in full rainbows and name them after their great-grandmothers.
Don’t worry. You’ve got this.
You’re the best. Just wait.”

This is for you,
The ones who had to settle for second or third choices
Because maybe you did hack that Ivy League challenge
But some dreams are too damn costly

This for you
That settled with in-state not because it’s worse,
Or you couldn’t do it there,
But because you know you belong elsewhere, not here
Because that’s what everyone has always told you
You’re the best. You can go anywhere you want. You can be anything you wanna be.
You’re special.

This is for all of you,
Who for your entire life have been told the worst possible thing

That you are better

Because the fact is, you’re not better
You’re different – maybe
But better? Wrong.
Because you’re not all wonder children.
You’re not on top forever
It’s a system
A process
And you didn’t have to start low
And you never thought you would.

This is for everyone who has ever been made to believe that they are the elites
Because the fact is you’re not
And no one in your life has ever given the tools to fix that.

Because your parents, teachers, siblings, peers, friends, relatives, mentors, and even strangers have never told you that you were wrong
Or not quite there.

So this is for you,
Who picked a Fine Arts major
Because they said you were the best
Whose about to get a letter – no an email – never a letter
From University (that you got into like a breeze)
It says they won’t be offering you anything.
Because little did you know, you’ve been made to make
best and good and special
look like it it’s easy
and that you don’t need help.

This is for you
Who have been let down by the world
And your own ego
This is for you who will spend your whole life working
With utter distrust
Because all that hard work didn’t pay off
And all those people
Didn’t actually help
And now you’re stranded
With nothing to do
But work from the bottom up
For the first time
In
Your
Life.

This is for you, who plan to beat it anyway, because now
you actually have a reason
to prove your worth.

Comments

love a diverse world

this is inspiring for me since i am going into my senior year of high school and looking for colleges and i'm not so sure where i want to  go and i'm having doubts on what i want for a career. This is also inspiring because i am average when it comes to academics and stuff and i always envy people who are really smart and get into colleges easily. Your poem shows that even if you're not a genious you can still make it in the world. i like it.

Additional Resources

Get AI Feedback on your poem

Interested in feedback on your poem? Try our AI Feedback tool.
 

 

If You Need Support

If you ever need help or support, we trust CrisisTextline.org for people dealing with depression. Text HOME to 741741