Just as I’d reached my end and was about to call the Pentagon to report the conspiracy, I received my first letter in the mail.  Actually, it was less of a letter and more of a package.  Okay, so if you’ve heard the theory that acceptance letters come in big envelopes, while rejections arrive in small envelopes…I have to admit that I think it might be true.  (I apologize if you were waiting for me to discredit the rumor).  I was ecstatic!  I called my mom, texted my best friend, and hugged my boyfriend.  The hard work WAS paying off.  Someone DID want me!  I’d applied to over ten schools, and each of the letters were soon rolling in.  However, the one I was most nervously awaiting had yet to find its way to my mailbox.  Pomona had not replied.

By April 15^th, I was sure that I’d been rejected.  Honestly, I was crushed at first.  I wondered what I’d done wrong, if my essays weren’t strong enough…if I wasn’t academically sound enough for their admissions process.  Here’s a small piece of advice—a rejection letter does not reflect a shortcoming in your personality.  Although you may not have been the best fit for that particular college according to a few admission officers, you should not take it as a personal attack on your character or on your worthiness as a human being.  In fact, sometimes when we’re required to open our eyes to new options and alternatives that we weren’t willing to consider at first, windows of opportunity fly open that benefit us amazingly.  Therefore, keep your mind, heart, and eyes open.  While knowing what you want is important, be receptive to changes and prospects from colleges that may not have been your number one.  And if you do get into your number one, congratulations!

Oh…I finally received that acceptance package from Pomona.  I’d given them the wrong zip code.  Second piece of advice—double check your address before submitting information.  The government wasn’t conspiring against me after all.

I know how you feel. I could hardly wait to receive my application responses back. I checked the mail almost every day after school in hope maybe one letter would arrive earlier; before the decision date. I checked my email 10 times a day and for months made sure everything had been received by each school due to paranoia. But, you know what, you’ve already worked so hard, and you’re already ahead of so many others by just having applied to college! You are going to be the first or one of the first people in your family to go to college! Now, if you only knew which one, right?

Now is a good time  to relax and consider how you are going to celebrate your first acceptance letter. I remember when I received mine. I’ll probably never forget that day. The first school I was accepted into was Wesleyan, followed by Emory a day later. The letters came early and I couldn’t believe it, when I got home and they were waiting for me on my bed. I opened them and was overjoyed that I had been accepted. I knew at that moment, I was definitely going to college – one of the best feelings in the world! I went out to dinner that night at my favorite restaurant and celebrated being accepted into college. However, you will have to decide for yourself how you’re going to celebrate. But, when you get that first letter, you’ll know that YOU’VE MADE IT , that ALL OF THAT HARD WORK HAS PAID OFF, and YOU ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO YOUR FUTURE!  Best of luck to all of you. My best advice is to celebrate your acceptances and not dwell in that unfortunate letter of rejection that may also reach your mailbox, because I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Don’t be discouraged, and realize that your letter of ACCEPTANCE is on its way!

I don’t think there is a special formula for someone who can be a mentor; no set criteria or educational background requirement.  Still, they tend to be very special individuals, capable of guiding you along your path and setting stones of future opportunities before your feet.  I didn’t have very many, but those that I did have were more than enough, remaining with me even now.  They provided security and motivation when I was lost and “at my end”.  Oftentimes, my mentors saw potential in me that I was unable to see, pushing me past limiting boundaries onto brighter possibilities.

I believe that those who have traveled a similar path before you are able to offer advice that we have yet to know that we need.  That wisdom is priceless, immeasurable in quality and value.  Looking back, I remember and appreciate the help they provided.  Looking forward, I want to serve as a mentor on my college campus and within my future communities.  The most amazing thing about my mentors was not that they were superiorly perfect human beings or that they’d changed the world with sterling accomplishments.  Instead, they were people, just as I am, capable of embracing their mistakes and passing on their wisdom.  They were willing to change my world, and in doing so…enable me to begin a path of helping others change their own.

~Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.~John Crosby

I was recently talking to a friend of mine at Babson, Alex, and he told me he wanted to transfer to Stanford or USC [both in his home state]. But he said “Man, but I may just give up on Stanford, my GPA isn’t high enough for it.” He has a 3.67 or a 3.7 – pretty good for a first year. Anyway.

Now I’m back home in good ol’ Virginia and I was talking to my good friend, David, who actually goes to Stanford. We talked about this, that, and the third – we had a lot of college stuff to catch up on. I finally asked him though about the whole GPA, test scores, etc thing and what it meant to Admissions @ Stanford [and I believe this is the same for all top tier schools]. He said that all of the good stats are super fantastic and it does help a lot, but he said that especially for Stanford, it is all about the passion. The passion you have for whatever it is that you do and it is about showing that passion through your essays. Now don’t quote me for every school, but I think it’s safe to say that it is the same for all schools. Maybe my fellow scholars can enlighten on it.

So convey passion. Make your essays exude the sweat, blood, and tears you’ve shed over the years. Easier said than done I know, but a key, as you probably already have heard, to conveying it is through an example of your life. It’s too easy to just say “I want to be the best”, instead show them it!

Anna Ivey even agrees upon this principle of conveying passion as a key to admission to law schools. But regardless of which school, undergrad or grad, passion is the key.

Here are some law school essay examples of how NOT to write. I figure if I give an example of what SHOULDN’T be done then there will be more space for your own style instead of following what is a good essay.

Bad Law School Essays

I would now leave off with a quote from Atlas Shrugged, but stupid me I forgot to mark the page with the quote – it was from Hank Rearden – but it went something like: “What he feared most was not those that oppose him, but losing the ability of motion, of not wanting to take action.”

Merry Christmas,
Duylam

For you high-schoolers out there my guess is that you are experiencing a similar sense of unease and nervousness.  The time to finish college applications is nigh, just as the promise of a break from school for the holiday season.  I remember that when my C.U. application was somehow erased every time I attempted to save it, a certain heat went up and down my back. So much frustration resulted from this that I felt I alone possessed a terrible burden.  In short, the college application process was a very intense experience for me, and I’m sure it is proving to be, at some points, for you as well.

What I have noticed though is that stress is inevitable.  I find that the heat is on now as the first semester comes to a close. With due diligence and a lot of patience I have faith that it will all work out in the end, and if you have that same faith it will help you to make more rational and cautious decisions than if you don’t.  Let me tell you that your applications and essays will look much better if you type them with a clear head rather than with “just finishing” in mind.  These applications and such can be finished, and if I can impart those seniors out there with one more bit in the endless stream of advice: don’t stress out and make more problems for yourself. At the same time though I want to be clear that what you are doing is important, and that is why it is so important to approach these issues with a level head.

That’s pretty much my motto for the week, since I’m gearing up for mid-terms this Thursday and Friday―one in math and the other in Latin―while also maintaining my other classes…work…exercise…etc.  A few nights ago, I was sitting at my desk conjugating A-stem verbs (unsuccessfully, I might add)…and I realized that I was still in my volleyball gear from class earlier that day, kneepads and all.

Test weeks always feel like a blur to me…from one mode of studying to another.  And sometimes, I still have to remind myself to take a break and relax, whether that’s through volleyball, dancing, or even playing with my rats, Mike & Ike.

During my senior year of high school, I often forgot to let myself sit back and enjoy the year.  I was always working…or studying…or searching for scholarships.  And when I look back, I recall moments that I wish I’d simply had more fun…times that I wish I hadn’t been thinking of that upcoming History test over the Nazi Regime or the Psychology paper over chemicals correlated to addiction.

Those tests were one of many…but the movie nights and dances that I missed…were not.  Now I realize that this may sound like the old “live in the moment” and “smell the roses” lesson…but bearing those things in mind can help you create a balance that is necessary for good health and emotional well-being.

As you work on college essays, applications, high ACT and SAT test scores; keep in mind that many great schools also want to know that you’re involved in other activities…things that you enjoy.  Pomona was an especially good fit, because they weren’t interested in me as yet another high school test score, but rather, me as a person—with goals and passions and faults.

So…to sum this up…in the midst of all that senior-year perfection you’re constructing so that you bedazzle nationwide admission-ers, don’t forget to let loose every so often…shake your hair in the wind…smell the roses…dance & sing…have fun…just because…

“The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.” Elbert Hubbard