I know it isn't my turn to blog ;-) but I read this in the Record yesterday and could not agree more with Mitch Albom. You know Mitch Albom...author of Tuesday's with Morie and 5 People You Meet in Heaven.... Anyway, just a brief little article to help you, my stressed seniors, cope with the next few weeks.
Feel free to comment.....
Opinion: The college that rejects you may be doing you a favor
The Record
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/albom_032311.html
I think that this article can be interpreted two ways depending on the senior reading it- one, if a senior who got into their top choice is reading this article, they are probably thinking about how fortunate they were to get into their top school and are probably wondering what it was that made that college accept them; but, if a senior who just got rejected from their top choice is reading this article, they are probably going to be bitter because this article is trying to console them when they're completely devastated over the rejection. Either way, this article proves a point- "college doesn't make you, you make college". I would constantly tell my brother this last year when he was deciding between colleges and weighing out the pros and cons because ultimately what matters is what a person make of college no matter what school he or she ends up at.
ReplyDeleteThe story about the NYC woman who was suing a preschool for affecting her 4-year-old daughter's chances at an Ivy League education reminded me of a story Mrs. Sandt told my class the other day. When she used to teach freshman at IHA, she had a parent once come in and yell at her because the essay grade Mrs. Sandt had given the woman's daughter was going to keep her from getting into Columbia University, her dream school. Mrs. Sandt said that she told the woman she was crazy because one grade won't affect a college's decision.
I personally believe that our society has become too fixed on the names of colleges. Many people want to just go to a school just so they can graduate with a prestigious name on their diploma and aren't concerned about what kind of time they are going to have over the next four years of their life. Honestly, I am still in denial that we are seniors and that we are going to college next year so I never really think about the question as to where I will end of next year. But no matter where I do, I want to make the best of those four years!
“College doesn't make you, you make college.” This statement is so true. I think people nowadays are so fixated on the names of schools. Parents want their children going to schools that when you say the name people respond with “WOW!” And the kids want that too. I think that because so many people want brand name schools we forget what college is about. It is a time to become the person who we dream to be. It does not matter what school we go to as long as we make the most of the school we are at. I know it is hard to be rejected from your number one school, but maybe it is for the best. The whole college process is so stressful and now that we are nearing the end of it we should make the most of it. We should pick the college not because of its name but because it makes us happy to think we are going to spend the next four years of our lives there!
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny that you posted this article! My mom and dad made me read it and then read it again, they cut it out of the newspaper and have it sitting on our kitchen table, and my mom has emailed it to almost her entire address book. I love the simplicity of this article. The point Mitch Albom makes about comparing yourself to others who seem completely unrealistic ("Because you heard about some kid who actually did save manatees, and he also carried 100 pairs of pajamas to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and he also plays jazz bass (upright) and in his spare time finished a sequel to “Catcher in the Rye.”) made me laugh because my friends and I always talk about this. No matter how good you are (or you think you are) at something, there will always be someone out there who makes you scratch your head and wonder if there was something special in the water where they live. It comforted me to know that I'm not the only one who feels like this--like you can't possibly be good enough because of all the talented people in the world, like you can't possibly have a shot because there's other people who will seem to deserve it more, like there's not enough hours in the day for you to accomplish what other people accomplish. I'll be staring at this article on my kitchen table probably up until the day I leave for college this summer, and I don't think there will be a time between now and then when it will stop making me feel totally normal about my expectations that are set unrealistically high and my stress level.
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