# 8 Feeding Properity by Feeding Monkeys- Journal

People from all over the world have their own unique tradition, like Harold Taw’s tradition of feeding monkeys every year on his birthday in order to ensure prosperity to his family. Similarly, in my Taiwanese culture, before any big important test or competition, I shouldn’t get a haircut. It is believed that if I were to get a haircut, all of my experiences and luck will be cut away along with my hair. It is said that as our hair grows, the experience and training we go through, either in studying academic materials or training in any sports, will remain in our hair. This may sound superstitious. However, after following the tradition for several times, I find it to be quite helpful. Although this tradition never helps me win any tennis competition or get 2400 on my SAT, I felt that if I never follow this tradition, I would have performed worse. I guess this is just a psychological relief for many people that although they may realized that some of the tradition are just superstitious that will never have any physical affect on anything, people just do them for the sake of it. I decide that I will probably follow this tradition in the future.

# 7 Response to "Getting In" by Malcolm Gladwell

After reading “Getting In” by Malcolm Gladwell, I was deeply amazed and totally agreed with what he had said about those Ivies league school and Havard. It is funny to see how a Canadian like Gladwell who attended and applied for the University of Toronto with relatively eased was shocked to see why people who went to Harvard were so proud of their university. For Gladwell, he just felt that it is not which college people attended determines their pride, but it is the fact they attended colleges and had the most experience out of it. I find it surprising that the reason why Ivy leagues school decided to look at their applicants with their personality, extracurricular activities and family background beside their academic performances was to reduce the number of Jews in their school. Like Gladwell said, these elite schools wouldn’t just want the intelligent people in their school. Instead they are like luxury brand who wants students that can be a superstar alumnus in the future who can keep the school’s reputation high.

        Contrary to what most parents think, these elite school are not like a treatment-effect institution like the Marine Corps that can trained individuals to become motivated students and get a degree with powerful name that can give them advantages in the future. Instead, they are more like modeling agency, a selection-effect agency that you don’t become beautiful by signing into it. You get selected because you are beautiful already. This make Gladwell argued that we shouldn’t be comparing that a student who went to Penn will earn more money in the future than those who went to Penn state. Instead, we should conclude that regardless of which school you attended, it is the inner quality and motivation one has that allow them to have great success in the future. By going to elite school won’t necessary give you advantage. Instead it is because you have those superstar quality that you will be admitted to those elite school, thus making the elite school to produce successful alumni.  

# 6The chase- Annie Dillard

The Chase, by Annie Dillard, is rather a fascinating prose that vividly describes one of her childhood experience. Her chase with an adult is extremely vivid and describe perfectly from a child’s perspective. I suppose this chase was rather a significance experience for her because she had never got so scared in life for the prank she did at adult. Normally, she treated the prank of throwing snowballs at passing car as a pure recreation at winter which rarely she would get any reaction from the driver. However, the driver instead stops the car and started to chase them persistently.

        Reflecting back, I remember a moment in my childhood that seems momentous even now. It is also about a chase, yet it was more of a serious chase that may eventually inflict some physical pain on me. I remember once visiting my uncle’s warehouse where it is filled with mountains of instant noodles boxes and drinks. There, I encounter a dog called little flower because of her brown spots over her back. Despite such a feminine name, with her first glance at me, for no reason she began to chase me. Extremely terrified at her speedy run, I also began to take off and started to run around the warehouse. I remember that I was quite stupid that I started to run around in a circle.  Screaming and crying with fear, the chase seems to last for hours with the dog closely behind my back despite how fast i run. I was screaming for help and urging the adult to stop the dog.  However, all I hear from the adults who were watching the "funny" chase were laughters filled with voices “Stop running, she simply wants to play with you.” However, in my perspective, she simply wanted to bite me and tare me into pieces for an afternoon snack. I couldn’t recount what happen after the chase that somehow I was saved and the dog was pulled aside away from me. That chase forever imprinted in my mind.