Sunday, November 18, 2012

College Rant

Today I will be lazy and to all of you out there I will share something I wrote to a prestigious school and see what I received as a response. Of course I received a generic answer, however this was not the point of the essay in the end. Also this relates to directly about my thoughts about college in general. A topic which I would like to hold off till another time. - Yours Truly, Enjoy

                 To Whom Ever This Letter May Concern,
                                I am writing this letter on the behalf of myself and nobody else to express not a plea, rather an interest in the institution of education. I want to recognize the diligence of what your school has accomplished over the years which it has been educating the young and the old brilliant minds as well as the people that come out of these institutions. Men and women who do not just see dreams in their own future but rather create them themselves to become more than just members of a society whom are useless and unthankful but rather those that help out others, may it be doctors, veterinarians, psychologists, educators and scientists which create a better world for us every day.
                As a student I want to admit that what I have done academically I should not be proud of and first and formally I should admit my flaws. Despite hardships faced along my high school career between family life, and school as well as a business which has helped out my family over the past three years. I do not want to make any excuses while I am writing this letter. I want to make out something which is very important to me and express it to you. As a person I believe educating and exploring your limits is the most important part of life, as humans we have no limits as long we do not place any upon ourselves. Every excuse and every downfall which occurs is self-brought because we can always pick ourselves up. However priorities do arise far and in between, sometimes school work has to be put off to help family especially in troubled times. Although education is something you always pursue. As a human I have never learned based on my successes but upon my failures what is right based on what I have done wrong. That is how I was raised and how I was taught.
                It has been my dream, wait not just a dream, a place that, as a person I wanted to reach whether it may have been education, a career, a running business; no matter what it was they were never dreams they are goals which I will accomplish despite challenges presented. What to me it seems that getting into a successful college it takes is either parents with a lot of money or parents who work at these universities. Those students with a lot of money have an advantage they do not have to worry about whether they will be on the street the next day or whether they will have something to eat.  They can go out there and spend $2,000 on a study session with a private tutor to teach them how to ace the SATs or if they need help with other studies. Majority of those who are in that situation though do not seem to care about their future or the next day however, there are those like myself who legitimately care. However presented with certain situations education becomes less important and focusing on supporting your own family becomes a priority. It is my question to you to ask what admissions seek in a student. Is it someone who is successful in their high school career? If so what do you define success by? Perhaps for a student they are successful at the point where they are pursuing an education despite grades despite challenges where sometimes you will receive an F in a class only to learn what you did wrong. Do you measure success in terms of grades? Because if that is so than in richer towns kids who are valedictorian and salutatorians  majority of the time they have never put themselves outside their comfort zone. They can make the time to study however there are those that still want the education which the others receive and cannot pursue it; it is not fair to them. Yes, life is not fair, I have heard that millions of times. However, those who advocate for themselves should be given a chance despite the fact. Just because I was not always successful in school does not mean I should be given less of a chance than someone who was. Why should College Board Org. or my grades describe me as a person? Why cannot be myself and those whom I have worked for as well helped that advocate for me instead. Why can I not advocate for myself and be given a chance to go to a prestigious school such as yours. What makes me different? The constitution says, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” what if to me my pursuit of happiness is seeking an education in a school of my choice.
                Nevertheless, what is more intriguing to me that grades also never show a student’s potential or intelligence. Sure anyone can sit down and memorize a whole bunch of vocabulary words and formulas for a test and do well on that test. However, not everyone tests well. My SAT scores do not reflect my intelligence with three languages, Polish, English and Spanish, behind my belt and I am working on a fourth, Russian, and with a low 1570 for an SAT score. How does that reflect anything? The answer it does not. Perhaps I am being a bit too cocky right now and perhaps I am making this too long. As a university you should understand the importance of what I am saying and the failures of your system. Perhaps using me as a prime example is a bad idea, however it drives the point that there are many others like me. Who are willing to learn and want to pursue something but universities such as yours only give that opportunity to those who have parents who can either afford it or are somehow connected to the schools.
                 Your answer to me might be, in words such as “thank you for writing to us, we will take your words into consideration” however to me that is the most ignorant thing anyone could say. That is pretty much giving a nice thank you for your opinion however; we really do not care what you have to say to us because you are just one person.  I was always taught that one person has the power to change the outcome of anything as long as they put their mind to it. That is exactly what I am planning on doing with this letter. If one letter is not good enough, perhaps I should ask those who believe in me and trust in me that I can make any dream come true to advocate for me. However this is a start and I am responsible for my own actions. There are plenty of other universities out there yes I know, however the reason I am writing to yours is to recognize the importance which you have had in my life. Something which I have strived for many years and yet even when faced bumps along the way which hindered me from successfully accomplishing certain goals I have never given up on anything. 
                Despite my low GPA in school I always work hard pursuing Advanced Placement courses even though I knew I could achieve A’s in regular level courses to me what mattered more is the education; the motivation to learn more and accomplish more to satisfy my own hunger for knowledge.  It is my desire to finish a Ph. D and to seek answers to question which some of our greatest geniuses like Einstein or Hawking could not answer and too look further and beyond the horizon of limitation because like Calculus has taught me, for certain ideas the limit does not exist or if it does it goes on to infinity, which is not just a number but a place where we strive to reach for.
                I have always been taught from my business and from people that writing letters is sometimes the most personal way of reaching out toward something you truly believe in. That is why this letter is not a plea but rather a form of advocacy for me and others who are mute and wish to be heard to recognize us. Despite the fact that we may not be the valedictorians, despite the fact that we have not accomplished great things yet, and despite the fact that sometimes potential is wasted especially in times like ours were college is not affordable to those who had to change priorities just to survive. 
                Along the way I have be focusing on one question, “what is the bravest thing you have ever done?” my answer to that is, wrote a letter to a prestigious college such as yours not just to be acknowledged but at least be heard from the ones that are mute.  Rather than being focused on one sunset be focused on the horizon which is much vaster than a point that’s limited.
                                                In best regards thank you for your time,
                                                              
                                                               
                                 

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