Where Is the Balance?

Today, a student was struggling with writing a scholarship essay. (I know, I have written about this before… just bear with me for a while.) As she began to speak, she rubbed her forehead in frustration, and slowly tried to explain her dilemma. She explained that she will not be the valedictorian of her class, nor will she be the salutatorian. She said she didn’t have the highest ACT score, and she doesn’t have the most jam-packed activity resume of her class. As she spoke, I couldn’t help but relate to what she was saying. I had to agree with her, and I also knew it was best to be honest with her and not pump her up full of unrealistic hopes. When she stopped and stared at me, waiting for some kernel of inspiration to get her started writing, I told her to just begin to write. Sounds simple…

I told her to be honest. Tell the scholarship committees the truth. Tell them just what she had explained to me. Explain to them that she only frustrated herself with being in every sport, out for every activity, keeping up with the ever increasing homework demands, and working in time to be with her friends and family. She was struggling with finding balance in her life and needed to get things into perspective. I told her she had to hope that the honesty of her essay may be a breath of fresh air to the committee members. Maybe they would just love to give money to a hard-working, down-to-earth student who will use the scholarship money for a good cause. I wanted to say with certainty that some scholarship committees realize when they are reading scholarships that are all the same. These committees receive a ton of scholarship applications that all have the same qualifications: good grades, high ACT scores, a jam packed activity resume, and the same mediocre essays telling the same stories of being involved and studying. We talked that some students simply join everything to beef up their resumes even when they don't really want to be in all those activities. Some students only join activities because they feel pressure. We talked about the balance of academic focus with the fun focus. Which focus should the scholarship committees see as an asset? Which focus will help her in college? She has a well-rounded education and social life, even if she is not involved in everything. She needs to emphasize her focus on the things that are really important to her.

But the questions becomes, how does this student make herself stand out? How does she explain the lack of activities in her senior year? Will the scholarship committee see that at a time when most students want to simply enjoy life, their senior year? This student is really focusing on her future. Instead of doing participating in every club, sport, and activity that might take her out of school (thus minimizing the amount of time she is “forced” to be in high school), she has chosen to taken to dual-credit college courses. She is taking the more difficult chemistry class instead of an elective that would not have homework. She is taking the highest level of math course offered in our district so she will be prepared for a college math class. She is taking a college expository writing course and another semester of college literature in the spring instead of the regular high school English course. Even her elective courses involve homework. She is taking a psychology course, a journalism course in which she is the editor and reporter for the school newspaper, which is mailed to over 600 public subscribers. I reminded her of a blog post I wrote last year for another senior titled, “A Practice Regimen for the Big Game.” http://lifeinadschool.blogspot.com/2010/05/practice-regimen-for-big-game.html (Little did she know that she would be the subject of a blog post too.) I reminded her that if everyone spent as much time on their academics as they do practicing for volleyball, basketball or track, then everyone would be better prepared for college. I also reminded her that she is doing just that… that could become the focus of her own scholarship essay.

I suggested that she go home and do some “brain vomiting” of ideas. Just begin writing, let her real feelings, frustrations, and concerns come out quickly onto the paper. Then once she has said it all, and feels a bit better, she can begin to clean up the mess and pretty it up. I reminded her that she will probably take a lot out. She will probably clean up, rearrange, and rewrite many of the sentences and ideas. She will probably also add a lot of new ideas later too. She stared at me for quite a bit, probably not realizing how long it really was, because she was lost in her own thoughts. Finally she broke the silence and asked if I would proofread it for her.

So as I sit here writing, comfortable on my couch with a cup of hot chocolate and listening to music, I wonder if she is at home writing too. Has she found her voice? Can she portray balance of activities and academics? Will the scholarship committee appreciate the balance in her life? Are those scholarship committees more impressed by students who are involved in everything – and often over extended, or are they impressed by other things? Are they impressed by the ACT scores and the GPA; or are they impressed that she is taking more difficult courses that will prepare her for the future instead of easy classes? I have to agree with my father who always said, “An honest day’s work should always be rewarded.”