From the desk of Celia Tucker, Academic College Counselor:

I have been told that I tend to look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Okay, I admit it; I do, but from what I have found, the rose-colored glasses bring me so much more joy in life than the dark and dingy ones I have tried on at times. Take the latest headlines in the world of college admissions. The lapse of judgement on the part of parents, coaches, and advisors could have caused me to be angry, upset and heartbroken for well-qualified and well deserving students who received denial notifications from the colleges of their dreams. Now, remember that I said, “It could have caused me to be angry, upset, and heartbroken”.

It didn’t.

When I first heard the news report, I thought about the very first bullet point on the “To Do” list we give rising Brook Hill seniors each year.

Number 1: Pray about where the Lord wants you to go.

I shined up those rose-colored glasses and thought about the second bullet point:

Number 2: Listen and be open to His guidance.

Of course the bullet points on the “To Do” list that follow talk about how important it is to have a stellar application with a strong transcript that includes challenging courses and good grades in those challenging courses (so that when they get to college they can stay at college); how important it is to have a strong resume that includes activities, work experience, honors, awards, and extracurricular activities that define who they are as an individual; and how important it is to have solid test scores earned from rigorous coursework and preparation in the classroom and from taking advantage of test prep strategies offered by both testing agencies.

When students and families are working through the college admissions process and praying-listening-researching-and presenting the absolute best applications they possibly can, then they have done all they can do. It is time to know that although there are admissions committees, there is also the “Committee Chairman”—the Lord. I tell students about how many times I have seen a rejection letter from a student’s number one school force them to look elsewhere and then years down the road understand why the rejection letter came. God has a plan, a purpose, and a road for us to follow. If we try to make something happen
that is just not supposed to happen then we won’t be at peace—we will be searching and not satisfied.

Too simplistic? Maybe. However, for me, it seems that my rose-colored glasses have gotten even rosier. I find that they are still the only pair of glasses that don’t make the world blurry.

Thanks be to the “Committee Chairman.”