Summer Reflection - Andrew Holowienka

            This past summer I was enrolled in an enrichment course, taught by Ms. Rubinstein and Ms. Morissette, in which we discussed and learned about the college process. Both Ms. Rubinstein and Ms. Morissette would often raise hypothetical questions in order to help us understand the process more clearly. During one class, Ms. Rubinstein spoke about a very interesting circumstance. She told of one of her students who applied to schools of very high caliber despite his low grades and GPA. This concerned her because she knew he would not be accepted to the majority of his choices. “What should I have told him?” she asked. I told her that she should have kindly explained to him that want and ability are two different things. Impressed by my response, she decided to write that statement on the board. Suddenly, my one sentence answer was the class philosophy for the rest of July.

            You may be wondering what exactly I meant by my response. Consider this example: There is a student who has a 2.7 GPA. The student failed Chemistry sophomore year. The student wants to go to Princeton in the hopes of graduating in four years; this student would then like to go to Medical School. In reality, this individual probably lacks the capabilities and skills necessary to succeed in Princeton or Medical School. He is very delusional if he honestly believes he would be accepted into Princeton in the first place. Not only is he wasting his time, money, and energy, but he’s getting his hopes up. As a matter of fact, he is not being reasonable or smart about the college process at all. Although most people wouldn’t want to crush this student’s dreams, something has to be said to the student in order to avoid turmoil. An honest assessment of what our abilities are is necessary in order to ensure we don’t waste time of futile endeavors. We must remember that our desires and abilities must be in line during this process. If we apply to schools in which we know we can succeed, then we will most likely see many acceptance letters in the future.