what are we really doing it for? - the college dilemma
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EP. 30 what are we really doing it for? - the college dilemma
Start a club, get a leadership position, and take APs. Across the internet, people are sharing videos titled “WHAT I DID TO GET INTO XXXX UNIVERSITY,” discussing the numerous classes, programs, and activities that helped them get into a top university. They say, do community service, start a passion project, and take challenging courses. I, as a high school student, have undoubtedly fallen victim to this growing attention surrounding college.
However, after taking the time to get to know myself better, and reflecting upon the end of freshman year, I realize I’ve been doing everything wrong, despite my hardest efforts, to follow the so-called “path to college.”
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It’s quite weird, how these educational institutions have become benchmark for our success. At least, for high school students. And seemingly, everything that we do, even starting from eighth grade, are simply for the purpose of getting into that so-called top college, for reaching that benchmark that we have set for ourselves. Why, has actions once perceived as coming from the good of our heart, become simply another bullet point, another label to paste on ourselves, and another additional step to getting that admission letter? Throughout this blog post, I want to discuss college, from the perspective of an Asian-american teenager, and how it has influenced my life. My perspective an experience is going to differ a lot from fellow teenagers, but I hope it can bring a new view point into your lives!
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Why do we care about colleges?
There are numerous reasons behind the rise in our emphasis surrounding colleges, and I would attribute a big reason to social media. Prestigious colleges such as Ivy Leagues has long held at a high place in our minds, but with the spread of acceptances and seemingly “normalization” of these Ivy League acceptances online, our desire for that acceptance has equally increased.
Some of the commonly seen format of youtube videos about getting into colleges
Social media, a prominent feature of our lives, is a platform, in which people are often share their happiness and success with others. Speaking from my experience, I often see Asian girls just like me, reaching their goals, sharing what they’ve done in their high school careers to get accepted into 16+ colleges. The popularization of sharing these acceptances, from hashtags to specifically curated youtube channels, push these Ivy League dreams into the minds of students just like me.
Of course, society as a whole, from the common notion that all students who attend top colleges have a better chance at earning more money, to the cultural expectation from families and peers to get into a prestigious college, enforce the stress and worry of teenagers about getting accepted into one of them. But these top colleges deserve the respect that society gives it. I still aim for a good college in the future, as the education, opportunities, and connections found in these institutions are unarguably high quality. But this doesn’t mean, high school is solely for the purpose of getting into that college, nor does it mean following in everyone’s footstep, afraid to stray away from the marker of a successful application. Simply attending a good college is not enough to cultivate the life, and create the change you want. This is why our obsession with getting into ivy leagues, are problematic.
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Why is this problematic?
The college process has killed students’ natural desire and creativity, folding them into the mold of the “perfect” ivy league student.*
The videos teem to all follow a similar trend. They emphasize in the “disclaimer,” or at the end of the video, to do what you love, and yet on the other hand, we are also told to follow a five step process, to watch videos with specific things you should do to get in.
What contradicting suggestions. How are teenagers able to hold on to the passion for what they love to do, when accepted students are telling us that we need to do volunteering, that we need to get a leadership position, and that we need quantitative results in order for admission officers to accept us?
Suddenly, high school is no longer about what we can do for ourselves and our world, but instead, what we can do to fit the perfect match of what our dream colleges want. I feel like college has infiltrated our lives in a beyond measurable way. Talking in my experience, this freshman year, I’ve joined clubs, applied for leading roles, taken an AP course, joined volunteering programs and non-profits in hopes that I could shape myself to be a better candidate — for college. In reality, how much of these things have I truly enjoyed? How much of the things I’ve done this year, stemmed from heart, rooted from my own desires? How much of these activities, would I be willing to do after high school? Close to none.
I’ve wasted this year, in the hunt to fill my resume with countless new extracurriculars, when in reality, I’ve lost touch with what I truly loved.
Let’s all ask ourselves this, what are we really doing this for? Are we doing everything in the name of human good, or for college applications? I think for a lot of us, we have found our answer. Our motivations to helping the community have become simply another symbol for colleges to look at.
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Finding what we love
Today though, I had a small revelation, that prompted me to write this blog post, and I wanted to share it here. The past me — in elementary school, I loved so many things. I did all of them earnestly and wholeheartedly, without a care whether they would make me look better, or make me look smarter. I did things, because I truly wanted to do them. That was when I was the happiest.
Music, reading, and zero waste among the many things that I held a passion for.
I think, all of us, are the happiest and shine the brightest, not when we are blindly signing up to do as many things as we can, but instead when we are focusing on doing what our heart tells us to do.
At the end of our lives, reflecting upon our high school career, will you remember everything you did simply to show colleges? Will you remember the volunteer programs, clubs you joined, “passion projects” you started? I’m speaking for myself, but I won’t. What a waste of time these things must be then. We spend so much of our energy seeking these additional activities, when the whole time, we could have dedicated our mind to something worthwhile, something we truly cared about. We could have learned more about certain topics, helped initiatives we cared about, without worrying whether or not it will be successful, and instead, fulfilling our inner hearts. We could have made lifelong memories.
However, I do understand the importance of education, and the impact college has on the rest of our lives. For those who have already been accepted, or graduated, college may no longer seem like a looming part of their future, but as a high schooler growing up in an Asian family, it undeniably seems like it is. And as much as we may wish, we live in a society where we need money to live a stable life. Money comes from sources of income, and no matter your decision for a freelance or corporate job, high levels of education, especially from college, is undoubtedly crucial.
An example of what Harvard’s website says about their search for students
However, colleges, they don’t accept fake people. They are looking for students who have the ability to use the education that the degree provide, to make a change in our world, and to make the community a better place.
How can we do that? Only when we toss away all the pre-determined expectations of what a “perfect” college candidate looks like.
In the end, the people who have made a mark on this world, who have lived their lives to the fullest, are not determined by their degree, or their college application bundle they put together in high school.
They are driven by their love, passion, and true desire to make an impact, do what they love, and pursue their dreams.
*Only in a minority of students, and based on the people I’ve seen around me.