This time of year always brings a bit of stress for our seniors. Many of them already know where they will be going to college in a little over eight months, while others are still waiting to hear. They have lived in the cocoon of secondary school for years and though they believe that they are ready to move on, as with any major change, there is some trepidation. Prepared academically and ready socially, these twelfth graders want to go on to the next level; however, they don’t know what they don’t know, and the ambiguity of life in college may be unsettling. They are in the throes of a transformation, and it is natural if they feel ambivalent.
It was with this understanding of working with seniors for over twenty years that I welcomed a column by New York Times op-ed writer Frank Bruni on January 6. In this column called “How To Choose a College,” Bruni advises seniors to transcend their comfort zone and be adventurous. While acknowledging the enormously high cost of college education, Bruni recommends that high school students pose the kinds of questions that all too often go unasked. For example, he urges potential freshmen to query what percentage of a college’s students come from overseas or how many students go overseas as a potential indicator of a university’s level of openness and/or the level of curiosity of the American students enrolled.
Bruni acknowledges that for some people the name of a college matters though he also states, “But there are just as many who prospered without the imprimatur of one of the hyper-exclusive schools near the top of the annual U.S. News & World Report list. “ As we tell our students, there may not be one “right” school for everyone, and more important than a bumper sticker or a sweatshirt is the feeling a student gets when visiting a certain college and whether it’s the right place for him or her.
Very often when speaking with seniors, I compare college to an intellectual smorgasbord or an “all-you-can-eat” buffet. This is a time when they can take the classes they want, study with the people they choose, and be who they wish to be. Eventually, students will have to choose a major to focus on, but before that, they should take a course like mythology or environmental law, just because they want to or they’re interested in doing so. Students should push themselves beyond their comfort zone and try new things “just because.” As Bruni so rightfully asserts, “College is a ticket to an adventure beyond the parameters of what you’ve experienced so far. It’s a passport to the far side of what you already know. It’s a chance to be challenged, not coddled. To be provoked, not pacified.”
These words hold great wisdom for eighteen-year-olds because they are so developmentally appropriate. After being in the world of formal schooling for at least twelve years, they are ready to stretch their wings and branch out. They should challenges themselves because it is their time to do so. There is a reason that so many social movements begin on college campuses, and it’s not merely because students have the time to protest; it is that this is where they are in their lives.
Bruni also offers advice to help students prepare for the fast-changing and tumultuous world they will encounter after graduation. Today’s students must be resilient and excited about experiencing some level of chaos in an interdependent world that lives at hyper-speed. As Bruni so rightfully points out, “The world is in constant flux, life is a sequence of surprises, and I can think of no better talents to pick up in college than fearlessness, nimbleness and the ability to roll with change, adapt to newness and improvise.” I hope that as our students make their decisions for where they will attend college, they will embrace the chaos that comes their way, and still in the midst of it, be happy for it will lead to personal growth that will benefit them for years to come.
