Hey!
I am so excited for two reasons. One, this is the 50th College Corner Blog (YAY)! Two, this is the long-awaited Stefanie Senior blog. I have to say that this was one of the most heartfelt, honest, and thoughtful pieces of writing I have read in a long time. I have enjoyed the past five years at Uni with Stef, and I wish the best for her at--well, why don't you just read and find out? :]
Dear Everyone and Everything:
I’M GOING TO PARKLAND.
On May 21, 2011, I’m going to graduate from University Laboratory High School- the alma mater of three Nobel laureates, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, an Academy Award winner, and an Olympic speed skater to name a few- and then I’m going to go to Parkland.
I’m telling you this for two reasons: The first is that I just received a theatre scholarship from Parkland, which will pay for tuition and fees of two years’ full-time study (!) and which requires me to do theatre (which I was going to do anyway, but now it will pay for school!) at Parkland.
The second reason I’m telling you this is that, in my five years at Uni, I’ve noticed a generally negative attitude towards Parkland (if I’m wrong here- and trust me, I’d love to be- correct me).
Especially in the past two years, since I’ve been going through the college process, I’ve noticed several cases of “or I could just go to Parkland”- I myself was guilty of it early on- and it’s something that I’d like to see changed, especially since I’m on the brink of beginning my education there.
Since beginning college talks with Lisa Micele, I heard over and over again that “Parkland is a good option”. I knew that Parkland was a good school (and not just for a community college), but somewhere in the back of my mind, I was thinking, “I hope it doesn’t come to that.” (Granted, that could have been because I wasn’t even considering staying in Illinois for college, but still.)
However, after my college apps went off, and my early-app friends started getting their outcomes back, I started to get anxious: What if I didn’t try hard enough? What if I don’t get in to this school or that school? Will everyone be disappointed in me? Will I have failed somehow? What if I do have to go to Parkland? I spent weeks and months like this; February may actually have been my least favorite month of senior year.
Then, in March, just as the college decision process was about to kick into high gear, Spring Break dropped in for a visit, and I shipped off to Arizona to visit my dad, uncle and grandparents (Fun fact: The ratio of bachelor’s degree to no degree is two and two- my grandpa and uncle vs. my grandma and dad). We all spent time talking about college, each family member giving me advice and sharing their thoughts about college. And then my dad gave me perhaps the single most useful piece of advice I’ve been given during the entire college process:
“Once you go apply for your third or fourth job, it’s going to be your job history and experience and not the name of your school that’s going to get you a job.”
At the time, I sedately agreed; but when I went back home and two weeks later started getting college letters, it became one of the only thoughts at the front of my mind. I was still a little disappointed at my outcomes (Accepted: Beloit College; Rejected: Georgetown, Yale, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon; Waitlisted: Bryn Mawr), but I realized I had options, and Parkland was one of them. As Parkland became a more and more serious option, my mom (who was also planning a triumphant return to school) and I began to look into financial aid and scholarships. I applied to Parkland (scarier than you might think), and then applied for financial aid as well as a theatre scholarship.
All this time, however, I was still having anxieties: Even though I was happy with the decision to go to Parkland, and I knew that my friends would be very supportive, I was still pretty embarrassed to make this news public. I kept having this mental image of the back of the graduation program: “Stefanie Senior, Parkland College, theatre”; and the reaction of my classmates’ parents: “Oh, that Stefanie Senior is going to Parkland? Is that the best she could do?” (I’m flattering myself to think that, post-high-school-graduation, any of my classmates’ parents will be talking about anyone or anything but their child’s completion of a major milestone, but this is how my mind works). I couldn’t stop carrying this image around in my head, so I asked Lisa Micele if we could have a meeting to go over my options and perhaps dispense some of my anxieties.
After the meeting, I felt a whole lot better. I was still a little unsure (though fairly certain) that I was going to Parkland, but I knew that I was more than likely not going to publish it on the first-floor map, in the Gargoyle, or on the back of the graduation program- the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ of college outcomes.
Then, Saturday (4/30), I came home from Anat/Phys class to a letter from Parkland. I wasn’t eager to read it, because I thought it may have just been something about missing documents or the completion of my concurrent enrollment- all college mail looks the same after a while. I picked up the letter and opened it, and when I pulled the contents out, I noticed that they were rather thick. I began to read.
“Dear Ms Senior,” it said. “Congratulations! You have been selected as a recipient of a Parkland College theatre scholarship.”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Full tuition and fees for two years’ full-time study? Yes please!
And, in that moment- as cheesy as this sounds- my embarrassment was gone. I’m going to Parkland- they’re paying for me to do theatre and go to school! What more could a theatre kid ask for?
And I went on Facebook, and I published it for the world to see. Guess what? 21 “likes” and 8 comments- and most of them from Uni students.
So, Juniors (and your parents, if they’re reading): When you are going through your college process, if at any point you step back and say, “I don’t know what I want to do with the next year of my life, let alone four!” or “I don’t know what I want my major to be! I can’t even think about my career goals!” or “I don’t want to leave my parents!”, put Parkland on your college list. It doesn’t have to stay there- by the time you actually go submit your apps, you may have everything figured out- but keep Parkland in your mind, and don’t think of it as a last resort school. It’s a good option financially and educationally; and if you still have Ivy-League ambitions, you can transfer in once you’ve finished your associate’s degree. In fact, you may even have a better chance of getting admitted as a transfer than you did as an undergrad!
So, if you actually read this whole thing, kudos to you; if you pulled a “tl;dr” and only read the first and last bits, I leave you with this: Your self-worth is not solely dependent on your choice of college. Do what works for you, and throw everything else out the window.
You’ll feel a lot better when you do.
Love,
Stefanie
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