…add “founder” to your bio for a group project.
...ADD “FOUNDER” TO YOUR BIO FOR A GROUP PROJECT.
Follow for more deep dives into the Ivy experience.
Remember those group projects? The ones where everyone was vying for the "leadership" role, or at least a title that sounded impressive enough to slot neatly onto a resume? It wasn’t enough to just contribute; you had to strategically brand your contribution. Suddenly, your section leader role in a five-person presentation became "Co-Founder of the [Insert Fictional Startup Name Here] Initiative." Or your role in organizing the study group became "Founding Member, Peer Learning Collective."
This wasn’t just about ego; it was about the unspoken curriculum of our institutions. From orientation, we were subtly, or not so subtly, trained to optimize our narratives. Every club, every project, every extracurricular activity wasn't just for learning or fun; it was a stepping stone, a bullet point. The pressure to stand out in a sea of exceptional peers often led to creative interpretations of our actual contributions. Who hasn't seen a "Chief Visionary Officer" for a weekly philosophy discussion group?
It's a shared humor now, looking back, but it also speaks to the intense pressure to align every experience with a prestigious career path. Did you truly "found" that ad-hoc committee for the dorm bake sale, or did you just suggest we have one? For many, the line blurred. This unique brand of "prestige behavior" isn’t just a funny anecdote; it’s a defining characteristic of our journey, shaping how we viewed our worth and our futures. It’s part of the fabric, a silent agreement that optimizing your bio was as crucial as optimizing your GPA.