Lily Kazemi
News Editor
On Sept. 22, seniors attended a mandatory assembly addressing the stress and pressures linked to the college application process. The speaker, Michael Thompson, is a psychologist who specializes in families and children, and is the co-author of a book called The Pressured Child: Helping Your Children Achieve Success in School and Life.
The assembly was set up in an interactive format, where Mr. Thompson spoke with students who vocalized their thoughts concerning college life and the application process. Mr. Thompson also discussed how to approach parents on the subject. “His advice to seniors was something along the lines of: Instead of having your parents ask you everyday if you’ve done your app or how far you are in the process, just sit down with them and talk to them about how excited you are to go to college and how you’ll miss them, but how you have a handle on the situation,” guidance counselor Ann Vernon, who listened in on the event, said.
According to Ms. Vernon, Mr. Thompson emphasized how kids might feel more pressured living in a town like New Canaan throughout his presentation. “Unfortunately, the focus of high school years in a town like this is where you’re going to get into college, building up anxiety in families,” she said. “Students feel that if they don’t end up going to a certain college their whole lives are failures, but that’s simply not true.”
Senior Amelia Crigler agreed that she doesn’t think it’s important to focus on which college you get into, but liking your final decision. “It doesn’t matter where I end up, because I’ll be happy no matter where I go,” she said. “Anyway, you can reapply or even take a gap year, if you don’t like where you end up.” Amelia also said the assembly wasn’t as applicable to her as some of her peers because she isn’t nervous about the application process, but more about hearing back from colleges.
For some seniors, however, the assembly was informative and beneficial. “I feel like it helped to put things in perspective about getting into your top-choice college, so it made me feel more prepared that if I don’t get in to my top two choice colleges, there will definitely be something for me there,” senior Alex Bordelon said. “I was stressed out: the only topics at home are college and college visits.”
Guidance counselor Susan Lenci believes it’s up to the student to determine their post-high school path. “I think its important to remember that there’s a college for everybody, and if you want to go, you’ll be able to get in,” she said. “The most important thing is to stay on top and not leave anything to the last minute, [and]utilize your school counselor and their tools. It should also be where you want to go and your own process.”
Photos by Kate Howard
