And Now A Word From Hillary

No, not the senator. My niece.

Of all the roles I have in life, being an auntie is just about the best. Maybe it's because I've been one for 35 years. Or maybe it's because my nieces and nephews are, got to say it, the bomb. Not only are they cute, charming and witty, they're smarties too!

Although I could write lengthy posts touting the the talent and accomplishments of each and every one of the eleven darlings, today is about Hillary; or Hill, as I like to call her.

She's just been accepted to Chapman University and will start there this fall after spending most of her summer traveling in Europe. She wrote a teriffic essay for her application to Chapman that is a spot on commentary of the pressure we place upon today's students.

So with out further delay, please enjoy today's guest:


The Game of College Admissions:
GO DIRECTLY TO COLLEGE, DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200.

In a world where the college admissions process is a game, knowing the ins and outs of the rules may just be your "get out of jail free" card. In Monopoly, there are three ways to get out of jail: You can choose to take a chance and try to roll doubles, use a "get out of jail free" card, or throw money at the right people.

The same rules apply in the game of college admissions first option of taking a chance on your true personality and ability is often disregarded, as more and more people seem to be taking the other two options. While hoping that who you really are should be enough to stand up against the competition, it is unfortunately idealistic and naïve, and does not tend to be the reality.

These days, even the best of actions comes with enlightened self-interest. Rather than act with intentions of doing good for the sake of doing good, people think of the resume benefits or the potential college essay that they can churn out, milking the situation to show how they alone can save the world.

In order to write a typically good college essay, you are forced to have a passion and exploit it. By age fifteen you must have overcome a major personal obstacle, and by age seventeen you should have discovered a miracle cure to some debilitating disease. By the time you are a senior in high school, you should be a candidate for a Nobel prize and have attempted to single-handedly save a suffering village in a third world country, and in your spare time, take classes at the local colleges while still maintaining a GPA of 4.0 or higher.

The college application process is nothing but a game where students are forced to jump through hoops in order to show their "qualifications". Just as in the game of Monopoly, the "get out of jail free" card can be bought and sold. Students are advised about which aspects of their profile need to be bulked up. Don't have enough service or activities? Find an organization, any organization to participate in, or join in the first school club you come across, regardless of your interest and investment in it! Need to improve those SAT scores? Pay hundreds of dollars for a tutor or prep class to train you months in advance! Need a good recommendation? Pay a private admissions counselor to write one for you! Really want to attend an Ivy League but don't have the grades? Buy the school a new wing, and you're in!

In this way, the student's profile is easily bought if you've got enough money to throw around.The college admissions process has successfully destroyed the integrity of our educational system. The goal of high school is no longer to learn, but to get good grades, by any means. Going to a college preparatory school, you learn quickly that no one cares how hard you work, or how much you know, all they care about is the grade that you get. Cheating on everyday assignments is a means to an end that has become socially acceptable among many students. We have lost the value of hard work because the emphasis is no longer placed on process, but simply on result. Do whatever you can to get that A.

Surviving high school in one piece is an amazing feat in itself. Since it has been decided that no one cares about the agony you go through in order to achieve, often times, the immense amount of academic pressure pushes students into unhealthy situations. Staying up late and pulling all-nighters occurs on a nightly basis, and caffeine is typically the teen drug of choice. In some cases, students may even turn to more serious and illegal drugs like speed or ADD medication in order to keep up with the high paced expectation. Mental and physical health is put on the back burner while rigorous coursework push you into a stumbling stupor. Education-induced emotional breakdowns caused by pressure and extreme stress become an acceptable normality.

More and more teens are losing the so-called "best years of their lives" to their college ambitions. These personal sacrifices, however great they may be, seem to be worth the long-term benefits of getting into the right college and ensuring a bright future.

In the end, each student applying to college is faced with the three Monopoly-esque choices. You can attempt to gain a "get out of jail free" card by cheating your way to an A and giving your resume some extra padding, despite your investment in the added activities. You can throw money at the right people, and drop the right names, almost guaranteeing admittance, despite your true qualifications.

Or you can choose to roll the dice and take the chance that maybe your hard and honest work will get you somewhere, proving that you don't need to cheat in order to win.