The Formula for Fruition: The Age Old Debate of Nature Versus Nurture by Kendra Cherry

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Recommended: Poverty and affluence

The Formula for Fruition: Nature vs. Nurture
The Story of My Search
Have you ever wondered what makes a person successful? Why is it that people who grow up in the same environment grow up to have such different qualities of life? As a child of two parents who would be considered “successful” by society, I’ve always wondered how differently I would perform in life had I been the child of different people or raised in a different environment. I’d heard plenty of stories about people coming from bad childhoods or being raised by unsupportive parents and still succeeding, but my question was, how common is this? How often is it that you can find people who succeed, in the way that society imagines success (happy, relatively wealthy, good at their job, and a somewhat active member of their community), when they were not raised in a household that was optimal for breeding success?

My search began when I was accepted into Manual and noticed the competitiveness of the application process. I saw many people get accepted and many denied. Most of the people who got into Manual, regardless of their magnet, were raised in a household where they were supported very much by their family and were given many opportunities to work on their skills. Only a few of the people whom I saw being accepted came from low-income families or less economically, educationally, or emotionally supportive backgrounds.

Research has shown that children from a background of poverty are less than half as likely to go to college, with only 34% of impoverished children in America going to college and 79% of middle or high-income children going to college. (Webley) Even students with high GPAs and high test scores are less likely to challenge themselves after they g...

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...to be a good role model for them. I definitely feel that this project has helped me and potentially others determine a plan as to how to prioritize our goals for the future in a logical and helpful way, weighing natural passion and skill over the resources and support we may initially have.

Works Cited

Cherry, Kendra. "The Age Old Debate of Nature Versus Nurture." About.com Psychology. Web. 18 May 2014. .
Mason, Lydia. “Nature vs. Nurture in Education”. Survey. 15 May 2014.
Mason, Cynthia. Personal interview. 10 May 2014.
Webley, Kayla. "We’re Doing a Lousy Job of Getting Poor Kids to College | TIME.com." US Were Doing a Lousy Job of Getting Poor Kids to College Comments. TIME, 09 May 2013. Web. 18 May 2014. .

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