A Letter to My Students 2022
As a college consultant, I work with high school seniors as they prepare their college applications and craft the many required accompanying essays. The essay prompts demand insightful reflection and the ability to present a story creatively.
A daunting task, indeed.
Each year I write my students a message of thanks for inviting me along their journey.
The following is this year’s letter.
Dear Students,
Congratulations! You have weathered the college application process with gusto, flexibility, and good humor. You adapted well from “virtual everything” to an in-person senior year. Facing weary, overly-taxed seniors became my new normal, but your determination remained constant, proving that the iron will of a teenager is magnificently stubborn and astounding.
In addition to English, you speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Urdu. Your Spanish and French are at an intermediate level, and you’re nearly fluent in ASL. We worked tirelessly on the proper use of indefinite articles and conjunctions and how to end a sentence with a preposition.
You described how you “chillaxed” by participating in park football, and you played golf both casually and competitively. You battled through enthusiastic Halo and Super Smash Brothers sessions, and as a violinist, you consistently focused on improving your fluidity. You swam for your school and the camaraderie. You competed in soccer at the national level. You skied solidly at the “blue level” and survived intense chess matches without disgracing yourself. You participated in overly-competitive pick-up basketball with your tribe and found solace in painting, jigsaw puzzles, and finally baking a nearly perfect sourdough baguette.
You taught English to eager children in remote villages of Pakistan, created virtual gatherings for lonely high schoolers, served on a Muslim panel to provide information to curious students, and baked banana bread for your neighbors long before it was trendy. You devoted your time to improving menstrual equity. You’ve blogged about challah, designed a high-tech camping stove, and, through a hail storm, finally trekked up Rattlesnake Ledge.
In a rural school in Shan Xi, China, the children’s fascination inspired you as you shared how Americans celebrate the Fourth of July. By crafting hand turkeys and demonstrating the physics of a parachute with these wide-eyed ten-year-olds, you discovered that we all learn from one another, no matter our circumstances or abilities and how powerful that is. You mentored novice Lincoln Douglas debaters and found that being a competitive equestrian is about much more than accumulating ribbons. By coaching a struggling golfer, you now understand what winning is all about.
You’ve improved productivity while working at Panera Bread and modified “the system” while putting in your hours at Subway. You exercised your patience helping your younger brother master Geometry. You appreciate the importance of knowing when to speak up when no one else will and when to keep your opinions to yourself. You’ve struggled through Calculus, internet connectivity, constant cancellations, and the rock-solid demands of parents. You basked in the delight of putting others before yourself.
We discussed the benevolence of the wild and wooly Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine, the monstrous wisdom of 80-year-olds, and Disney’s movie, The Incredibles. You now grasp the simplicity of Mother Theresa and the selfless sacrifices of John Boyd. You recognize that creating community truly is in our DNA, and by putting aside your pride or your stereotypes or your silly notions, unimaginable possibilities do magically materialize.
A winning roboticist used the physics of a see-saw in her essay to illustrate that we too often focus on finding equilibrium, seeking out answers instead of experiences. But through struggling to lift off the ground and fighting to stay aloft, we find joy and opportunity.
A tiny but mighty STEM-minded student wrote passionately about the moon’s phases and explained how light energy bounces from the sun towards the Earth, but not always in the same way. And how a lunar corona can beautifully blossom around the moon, lighting the way for her to find her true purpose.
A resolute soccer star and math prodigy explained how math provides valuable opportunities, but soccer offers unmatchable freedom — combining math’s dependability and soccer’s creativity was how to forge his way forward.
A rambunctious, eternally curious writer with the winningest smile lived his life as a closet gamer because navigating the whole social complexity of “teenagerhood,” seemed too daunting. But by putting himself out there and focusing on giving back, he was delighted to write that nothing is impossible, popularity is overrated, and genuine friendship is invaluable.
And a tenacious horse-crazed girl who plays Bach’s Sonata in G minor like Itzhak Pearlman found that her ultimate trifecta came through not only winning in her Equestrian events but also bonding with her horse and connecting with her mama.
Thank you, students, for inviting me into your world. Your sweet naivete made my heart swell, your resilience moved me to tears, and your grit was inspiring. I am so very proud of you. Any college or university will consider itself exceedingly fortunate to call you one of their own.
Most Sincerely,
Julia M. Adler
