If you teach seniors, Saturday’s Dear Abby may have caught your eye.
Students get the message throughout their high school years that all they have to do is get good grades and the world is their oyster. Then in the final semester of their senior year reality dumps on them like a brick wall in a earthquake zone. They don’t get accepted to college of their choice; they can’t afford the college of their choice; scholarship applications are denied… the real world is not a helping hand up. It’s a harsh competition for diminishing resources.
When confronted with a student whose dreams are… umm… altered… because of money, I try to point out the positive.
“A large college may not be the right choice for you, but are you determined to get a college education? If so, I know that you can find like-minded students. I, too, attended a well known party school. It also had a strong Honors program, a multi-national student body and some of the most out there technology on the cusp of being widely known. Granted that was back in the day of the dinosaurs, but now they probably offer even more. Dorms specifically for those who want quiet; clubs and organizations, galore. Want the personal relationship with the professors? Visit them during office hours. In a class of 700, my Russian culture professor knew who I was because I went to her office to see her – and usually there was no else there.
It may not be the college you wanted, but you can make the experience wanted.”
What would you advise?
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