EDITORIAL
2 Obiter Dicta
Great Expectations
Managing the aspirational gap between what is
and what you expect
M
a n y of us go through our lives set ting what we like to label “goals” and
“objectives” for ourselves. And for the
most part this seems to be a healthy
and productive thing to do. Though sometimes
these aspirations morph into expectations, very
high ones at that, and it is when this happens that
we set ourselves up for potential struggles. Often
we see this as simply the result of a desire for selfimprovement and the risk of disappointment is
merely a cost to be paid. Maybe it happens as a
result of confidence in what our future holds, or as
a result of buying into the narratives that society
presents us. It’s hard not to hold certain expectations of how our paths should unfold when we are
led to believe that false dichotomies such as “right”
and “wrong” exist.
With the recent release of last semester’s grades
combined with the flurry of calls for applications
for intensive programs, international exchanges,
and the Ottawa round of OCIs, this time of the year
quite easily lends itself to the act of reflection. It is
a fitting time to reassess our life goals and make
adjustments where necessary. It can be an appropriate moment to take inventory of these expectations and assess whether they continue to stand up
within the reality in which we exist. While some
might be rejoicing in the discovery of their success,
others are likely recovering from a wake up call that
harshly brought them back down to reality. For the
most part, it is to those individuals whom I speak
because I also stood in this position a year ago, and
even though I had not ‘failed’ in any objective sense
of the word, relative to the expectations I had for
myself, it felt as though I had.
I’ve recently come to reflect on how our expectations can motivate us to improve ourselves, but
also how they can equally leave us feeling disappointed when we don’t live up to what we imagined.
The problem, as I see it, is that, for some of us, when
we face weakness, when we stumble, when we ‘fail’
in our own eyes, we easily slip into a hyper-critical state where we no longer hold ourselves to the
rational image of mere mortals. We suddenly expect
ourselves to possess all the strengths and qualities of a superhuman being, and when the reality
doesn’t match with that image, we shame ourselves
for this perceived failure, entering into a vicious
cycle that only serves to make matters worse. Much
a. Osgoode Hall Law School, 0014g
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, on m3j 1p3
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w. obiter-dicta.ca
t. @obiterdictaoz
“Fools and obstinate men make rich lawyers.”
spanish proverb
ê Life doesn’t always bring you to the destination you had planeed. Photo credit: Pat Cegan.
in the same vein as perfectionism, failure to turn
our high expectations into reality has the very real
risk of bringing stress, disappointment, or unhappiness into our lives.
Moreover, these expectations can, at times, be
counter-productively high. They can stand as a barrier that holds us back from taking a different path;
from gaining experiences that arise from simply
remaining open to new opportunities that lie outside what we would have imagined for ourselves.
The ‘failure is not an option’ mentality accompanying many top performers can potentially have
the effect of binding these students to a very strict
script they have created for themselves out of a fear
of treading into the unknown and making a mistake. Sometimes we find ourselves so entrenched
in the vision of a future that may or may not exist
that we refuse to acknowledge or take advantage
of paths that might lead us astray from what we
perceive to be our destined outcome. I can understand the appeal of finding comfort within a
world of uncertainty through this type of thinking. Admittedly, it is far easier to persist through
adversity when we visualize the fruits of our labour
waiting for us at the end. However, one of the many
valuable lessons I learned from art school was that
embracing, rather than fearing, the unexpected is
a trait among those who find themselves further
editorial board
editor-in-chief | Karolina Wisniewski
managing editor | Sam Michaels
layout editor | Heather Pringle
editorial staff
business managers | Alvin Qian,
Adam Cepler
communications manager | Carla Marti
copy editor | Subban Jama
news editor | Mike Capitano
opinions editor | Carla Marti
arts & culture editor | Marie Park
sports editor | Evan Ivkovic
website editor | Asad Akhtar
ahead in the pack. I would argue that an ability to
spot and adapt to the surprises that come our way is
a greater determinant of our success and happiness
than the sheer “sweat of the brow.”
Compounding the problem is the inherent
nature of law school. When we stop and think about
how we attribute meaning to the success we achieve
in our lives, it becomes clear that we assess the
value of our achievements relative to our expectations and the expectations of others around us. In
essence, while we complain about being graded on
the curve, for many of us, we have already engaged
in a comparison process that subjectively measures
our performance against our peers prior to walking through those front doors. Law school seems to
have the uncanny ability to self-select its students
based on these characteristics. It is in that light that
I often tell myself that I am somewhat of an outlier;
though I don’t say this with absolutism. Admittedly,
there have been times when I fall into the very
mindset of which I have been describing. However,
for the most part, and I’m sure anyone who knows
me can attest, my response to the pressures arising
from the expectations that constantly surround us
is, paradoxically, to hold low expectations. I don’t
staff writers
Kate Henley, Gleb Matushansky, Erin Garbett,
Hannah de Jong, Kenneth Cheak Kwan
Lam, Kendall Grant, Rob Hamilton, Esther
Mendelsohn, Parmbir Singh Gill, Michael
Silver, Nabila Khan, Sabreena Delhon
contributors
Benjamin Hognestad
Submissions for the February 23 issue are
due at 5pm on Febrary 14, and should be
submitted to: [email protected]
» see great expectations, page 14
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