College Admission Help

College Counselor Advice: It Only Seemed Like the Fourth of July
By Dr. Patrick O’Connor
High school students and parents know how crazy each April can be—it is just absolutely insane. So I hope you can imagine my reaction when I opened my computer and saw a note that I had volunteered to do college counseling for 5 hours at a community block party—ON A SATURDAY! “Dude” I said, looking in the mirror, “what did you do? I mean, rake leaves for 5 hours, babysit your nephew for 5 hours, help your best friend move for 5 hours—cool. But 5 more hours of what’s taking up more than your entire waking day? How about a change of pace?”

Of course, it was too late to change plans, and wouldn’t you know the morning was beautiful--- so off I went. I got directions to the park and drove to a part of town I had never seen in my life; yes, this was a block party, but not on my block, or even my neighborhood. I put a box of flyers and books under my arm (did you know I wrote a book about choosing a college? Take a moment and tell a friend, won’t you?), found an empty table, and set up, battling a strong breeze all the while, wondering if anyone was going to really pick up any of this material, and thinking maybe I wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

And then they came. All ages, all sizes, all background, all languages. What’s the book about? What’s this pamphlet for? Do you have anything in Spanish? Can I have a T-shirt? There were so many questions coming from so many directions, I needed to sit down—except I already was sitting down.

The T-shirts went first, and I saw them the rest of the day, proudly hanging down to the knees of the troupe of 8 year-olds who cleaned me out. Many, many mothers said they had 10th graders who sere starting to look; a 35 year-old said she was heading back to school; several grandparents simply picked the book up slid it in their backpacks, and nodded as they moved on. All this while dancers were on the stage across the path, where loud music was clapped to in rhythm by proud parents, and a cart came by with a man selling ice cream—in this case, singing Spanish songs.

It was one of the quiet grandparents who took my last piece of literature, only three hours after I started. I left my empty box on the pile, passed the face painting booth (that was really doing banner business), and thought maybe I could make one of those plywood stands with a picture of a graduate painted on it. I could cut the face out, and the kids could have their pictures taken with a pretend diploma in hand—when I come back next year.

Some people get tired of hearing about community service, especially when they’re up to their ears in the track team and SATs on Saturdays. I understand—but after watching the eyes of youth light up at the prospect of wearing a shirt that talked about college, and after seeing the glow of the neighborhood elders as they knew exactly who their copy of the book was going to, I felt compelled to tell you again—community service isn’t really about college, and in many ways it isn’t about you. It’s about being a part of something bigger than yourself, and paradoxically understanding more about who you are as a result.

Not bad for three hours worth of college counseling during notification month.



College Counselor Advice: It Only Seemed Like the Fourth of July