Thank God the American dream protects us from the status of incompetency before we have had the opportunity to be adequately evaluated (take note, professor who gave me that 69 percent). Labelling someone as fundamentally unfit suggests an inherent flaw--a permanent and incorrectable state rather than a temporary condition.

Few normal humans, if any, are in fact fundamentally unfit. Rather, most of us saunter between states of competency and the incorrect degree of qualification. But most importantly, we are all qualified to some degree (even if it be the bare minimum) and have the ability and potential to further that qualification.

Jenkins, there will always be people far smarter and more productive, but not necessarily more deserving than you. While this does make you less qualified, it does not necessarily render you stupid nor your efforts completely futile.

Dominique Kalil '00

Dec. 3, 1999

Ducey Wrong to Cast Burnout as a Failure to Cope