Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am" (Miller 105).
Most students at Singapore American School can relate to this quote from Biff. Growing up in affluent families, having successful parents and grandparents, and attending a high-ranked prestigious high school puts a lot of pressure on each of us. We all have parents who demand we try our best in all of our activities, school and non-school related. We're often pushed into AP classes that we aren't actually interested in, so that the Ivy League schools we apply to are more impressed. Why do people even strive to attend Ivy Leagues anyway? In Mr. Hallam's Finance class, we did a project on the rewards and consequences of attending an Ivy League university. We found that graduating from an Ivy League school isn't the automatic pass into a high-salary career like we seem to think, but it's the work ethic and drivenness that really matters. Students who applied to Ivy League schools and were accepted but didn't attend, actually ended up doing just as well or even better financially than those who did go. Another thing, I believe that some students at this school think the big reward is getting into the Ivy League school, and then it's just a golden brick road from there. When really, the work load and pressure is even greater there than at SAS, which I'm sure not many students would want. So here is where we go back to Biff's quote, why are we all trying to become something we don't want to be? According to this website, https://www.cco.purdue.edu/Student/major.shtml, 50% of students switch their major before graduation. This is proof that too many students are picking majors that they aren't interested in, but maybe they were pressured to pick.
We can all learn a lot from Biff. Biff isn't afraid to admit that he doesn't know what he wants in life. For example, on page 81, Biff says, "I realized what I ridiculous lie my whole life has been," and on page 5, Linda says about Biff, "He's finding himself, Willy." Biff does know for certain that he doesn't want an office job though. Biff has been able to look past his father's materialistic dreams for him and search around for a purpose in life. Unlike Biff, our school community has only grown up in a wealthy environment, and we're afraid to venture into a lower class of living, even if that means giving up our dreams. Why is it that there are way more people from SAS who major in investment banking, finance, and international business than there are people learning to becomes vets, farmers, or teachers? Are you really going to argue that the students here have just been dying to become a hedge fund manager their whole life? Here is a one last question to think about: If money wasn't an object, what would you want to be in life?
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