Definition
Every year at this time my seniors start to get their acceptance letters. Honestly, it is one of the most difficult times for me. So many of my students throw the past 3 years of work out the window and end up paying their deposits to the highest ranked school they get accepted into. Many times it is a school that I didn't want on their list but they or their parents just wanted to try and see what might happen.
Well I know what will happen. If they get in they are likely to go. Going to the highest ranked college you get into isn’t the problem. Usually they will not have the best experience or might not gain the support levels to help them develop the communication skills and interpersonal skills to improve themselves but for most they will make it through the four years and earn their degree. The problem that leads to my sadness is that the values and ideals they say they aspire to and hope others do also are thrown out the window. They cave to the very peer pressure and fear they claim to dislike.
I have never met someone over 30 years old that talks about the university or college they went to. I have never judged or thought of a person in terms of what college they went to except in a negative way. Not that I should, but I will admit that I have met some unemployed or very arrogant, mean people and I do remember they went to Yale, NYU or Hopkins. I do also laugh at the multiple friends I have that never went to a brand school but still make 150,000+ USD a year but are as caught up in the “rankings” as everyone else.
The truth is that it is a person’s character and work ethic that will define them. Not the college or university they went to. Yes, you might get an interview because you went to a name brand school but I can assure you that you might not get the job and if you do you better be three times better than the local hire if you want to stay and earn that higher salary. School doesn’t define you, you define yourself through how you work and the standards and values you emulate.
I love my job because I love my students. Each one is unique with their own strengths and weaknesses. I strive to get to know them and think about the schools that will best help them become successful. Most of the time the path to success isn’t the ranking but the support services, types of students or a specific professor within the area of study interest. This is what I believe the parents are paying me for and I do not take the responsibility lightly. I see some shy but smart students. I want to make sure they learn how to confront their passive nature so that they can share the great ideas they possess. I see the outgoing and team builder and desire a space that will help them hone their leadership skills.
My sadness is that parents and students will pick up on the vanity of rankings over what truly will transform their child into the best person they can be. They pick other people’s perception of them over what is the best path to success.
I have an uncle that paid a lot of money over the years so that he could drive Mercedes and BMW cars. He recently bought his first normal brand SUV. He still has the same friends, still drives the same miles, and still eats the same food. He commented to me that the new SUV was so cool, it drove just as good as the top brands he once owned, got better gas mileage, was cheaper to maintain and was almost as comfortable - like he really thought the cars of the past defined who he was and how he felt as a human being.
Famous Alumni
John Green is a famous author, YouTube content creator, and educator. His books have over 50 million books in print including “The fault in our stars” which is one of the best selling books of all time. John Green is an alumnus of Kenyon College, a top ranked liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio graduated with a double major in English and Religious Studies in 2000.
