What’s the point of school? I ask. Why bother? To get into a good college—that’s the answer I most often hear from American high school students. So what’s the purpose of college? I ask. To get a good job, to earn a living, the students answer. This dialogue is the basis for what I have come to call “the middle-class script.” The script reads as follows: 1. Work hard in school so you can get into a good college.
