Senior parents. Tonight is your night to get excited about the college application adventure ahead. That's right. I said adventure. Not crucible.
If there is a soundtrack that I hope you will hear humming through your ears the whole year...it's this one.
See you tonight. 7 pm. Student Center. Coffee bar will be open. So come get your caffeine-fix on early!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tyra's essay
Yesterday our college counseling staff met with seniors to discuss the adventure ahead.
I started out by showing my seniors a television clip from my favorite show, Friday Night Lights.
Tyra desperately wants to go to UT in Austin. She's been an average student until her junior year. Then something clicked. Came alive. Now she must differentiate herself within a humongous, Texas-size blob of applicants with a similar "upward trend" academically.
How will she do this?
Her college essay.
But Tyra struggles to find her voice.
Her message.
Her rough drafts have been predictable and perfunctory.
A list of accomplishments.
Bla bla bla.
And then it happens.
With the help of her friend, Landry, Tyra finds it.
Notice that Tyra doesn't "package" herself in her essay.
Tyra reveals herself.
Her hopes.
Fears.
Dreams.
So seniors I challenge you:
Reveal yourself. Don't settle in your application for anything less than your voice. Your heart. Your soul. Like Tyra. That rep needs to see beyond the numbers. That rep needs to see you. You in all your florescent colors.
So that's tag line #1:
Reveal yourself.
I started out by showing my seniors a television clip from my favorite show, Friday Night Lights.
Tyra desperately wants to go to UT in Austin. She's been an average student until her junior year. Then something clicked. Came alive. Now she must differentiate herself within a humongous, Texas-size blob of applicants with a similar "upward trend" academically.
How will she do this?
Her college essay.
But Tyra struggles to find her voice.
Her message.
Her rough drafts have been predictable and perfunctory.
A list of accomplishments.
Bla bla bla.
And then it happens.
With the help of her friend, Landry, Tyra finds it.
Notice that Tyra doesn't "package" herself in her essay.
Tyra reveals herself.
Her hopes.
Fears.
Dreams.
So seniors I challenge you:
Reveal yourself. Don't settle in your application for anything less than your voice. Your heart. Your soul. Like Tyra. That rep needs to see beyond the numbers. That rep needs to see you. You in all your florescent colors.
So that's tag line #1:
Reveal yourself.
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