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College Tips
for Parents |
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The College Deal
By Kimberly Tran
Second year student Kimberly talks about the stresses relating to
the college application process; including coping with rejection
from your first choice college. She also give insights & ideas
to parents are how they can be supportive.
College is a pretty big deal. I think I made it into a bigger deal
before it even started. I found an old journal entry I wrote during
my senior year personal statement writing process. It’s funny
re-reading the things I write, especially when I can totally
remember the feelings that went through my head at the time. This is
an excerpt from my journal:
“Oh man, life has become one large, unanswered question mark
lately. What college will accept me? That happens to be the only
important thing on my mind recently. The only thing I’m looking
forward to is my new beginning, regardless of where it starts. I
feel as though my entire life has been leading up to this one
moment…where everything around and regarding me will change. I don’t
know… I’m just looking at all the possibilities and opportunities. I
don’t know what’s in store but hopefully it’s NYU, because that’s
really all I want….”
It’s a bit embarrassing to publish a piece of my journal, even
though it’s a very small piece. But I feel as though that is the
point of this article. College is a big deal; college is the
scariest deal for all high school seniors. Unlike grade school,
junior high and even high school, the aspect of college is not
guaranteed by public institutions or even personal tuition. College
is based on the idea of acceptance and believe me, no one wants to
get rejected.
Unfortunately for me, NYU did not accept me and I had to suffer the
pains of rejection. It didn’t matter that my AP English teacher
thought my statements were pristine and that I worked for four years
to create the perfect high school resume. When it comes down to it,
college is a mean deal.
I’m not sure how I managed to get over the reality of not going to
NYU. But one thing is sure, my mom was there for me the entire time.
It was like the biggest break-up of my life! And like a good mother,
my mom told me that I didn’t need it, that it was their loss and
other horrible things about the school that broke my heart. I
thought she would have been disappointed in my failure but instead,
she took me shopping (the best therapy for a girl). College or not,
my mom was understanding and supportive of what I had already
accomplished. And with her help, I began to piece together plan B.
During the entire college deal, teenagers could do without the
excess pressure from parents and family. High school seniors have
already placed on their shoulders tremendous pressure for
themselves. The best and most encouraging thing for parents to do is
to give their kids some space and to keep the college talk to a
minimum. Because college is the only thing on the minds of
graduating seniors. What they really want to do is something
stress-relieving, like shopping. And such activities can only be
more fabulous with the accompaniment of a supportive parent.
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