In Malcolm Gladwell's writing "The Matthew Effect," he almost completely dismisses the idea of "being born with talent." Gladwell, however, believes that in things such as sports and education, the elite rise up through one common factor: when they were born. At first glance, one would disregard this idea, especially Americans. As Americans, we are raised being told that we can be anything that we want when we grow up. "You could be president one day," our parents say, "all it takes is hard work." Gladwell, however, would chime in and tell our parents we are fools. And I believe there is some merit to his point. Hard work and determination can take a person as far as they want in life. Yet those born at certain times of the year are given certain advantages. 

Gladwell's focus started with hockey. The cutoff date being January 1 and those born closest to this date being given the biggest advantage. I think Gladwell is right in the sense that someone born January 1, 2012 will have a maturity advantage over someone born December 31, 2012. A lot of growth and maturity can happen in a 12 month span. I think the best the analogy Gladwell used was his tree analogy. If you plant 100's of seeds all in the same area, one will end up being the tallest and strongest. But why? Whichever seed sprouts first, will rise to the surface first. It will then receive the most sunlight and catch the most rain. As time goes on, it will already be taller than the other sprouts. Therefore, the first sprouted seed will begin to take away sunlight from the other plants. This is Gladwell's point in sports. The kids born closest to the cutoff date will be the most mature kids. They should be the biggest and smartest. And these are the kids that will get bumped up and receive better coaching and competition (sunlight and water).

I can't help but wonder if I would be more skeptical of Gladwell's proposal if I myself had not received this same advantage. When I was younger, the cutoff date for school was in September. I was always one the oldest kids in class being my birthday was in the first month of the school year. And in elementary school, I was also put in the gifted programs. But was I not special at all? Was I given preferential treatment just because I was older? As much as I agree with Gladwell's proposal, I don't believe people are just statistics. Given certain opportunities, people can be born with greater advantages in life, and being born near the cutoff dates is one of them. But I cannot completely turn my back on the notion that hard work and determination can take you anywhere in life. The kids may be given a head start, but the truly gifted, no matter what age, will conquer in the end.