Sheep

In American Studies we looked at a Yale commencement speech by William Deresiewicz. In this speech he made a comment on the nature of the students he saw around him. "what I saw around me were great kids who had been trained to be world-class hoop jumpers. Any goal you set them, they could achieve. Any test you gave them, they could pass with flying colors. They were, as one of them put it herself, 'excellent sheep'".
So then my American studies teachers asked our class, "what types of people within our society are the sheeps?".

Sheep has two applicaple definitions of many when defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary. A sheep is either "a timid defenseless creature or a timid docile person; especially one easily influenced or led". Niether definition is a particularly positive one.
Using Deresiewicz's description of these "sheep" and pairing it with the Merriam-Webster definition I came to the conclusion that the sheep are the people that are typically in the higher level classes in our school.
I say this because if a sheep is someone that is "easily influenced or led", then those who are in higher level classes or strive to succeed within the system are the sheep. These types of people do whatever they can in order to succeed. They do not rebel, or question authority because they hope to succeed. These are the people that end up dictating the course of America, those in higher level classes end up getting further in our society.
       If those people are the sheep and are "easily influenced or led", then what does that mean for America? Why is our system set up to reward those who follow instruction and do not act for themselves?