Plain talk about college

Nothing sets me off like hearing that a student has been told they have no options other than the community college, technical school, joining the army, etc.  It’s not that these are bad options.  In fact,  for some students these are the wisest choices they can make in order to attain the career they are interested in.  No, what bothers me is when this pronouncement is delivered  to a student, more as a statement of fact than as an opinion, and is based solely on the grades on a high school transcript.

Yes, maybe a student has not done well in high school.  Many of them don’t, you know.  But a student is more than just grades in a class that may have had little meaning to them.  My experience has been that there is often a back story – and sometimes those back stories are compelling.

I have known plenty of kids who would have likely received the dreaded, “Your only option is…” because of their grades – except they had someone in their corner to somehow support them.  These were kids whose back stories included being homeless, living with a mentally ill or alcoholic parent, working evenings to support themselves, having a sibling with cancer or developmental disabilities, dealing with an undiagnosed learning disability, struggling with their own sexual identity, and the list goes on.

Their grades only told part of the story – the part that fits neatly on one sheet of paper.  What those grades missed was the story of resilience and perseverance, of what it takes to get your homework done when it takes you 10 times longer to read an assignment because you’re dyslexic.  They leave out the responsibility that comes with being the one in the house who is solely responsible for preparing meals and getting your younger siblings off to school.  A grading scale can never measure the dedication it takes to sit in a class when you’re constantly wondering if your little sister is still in remission or knowing you will likely be beaten up in the locker room because people think you’re a fag. No, transcripts miss that chapter of the story.

While you may never completely get away from the grades, one of the things I love about colleges is that many of them are willing to listen to that back story as context for the grades on a transcript; to see the potential for leadership and to honor the experiences that may lead these students to become amazing teachers or social workers, artists or doctors.  That is why I firmly believe that, if a student has the drive, determination, and ability, there is a college waiting for them – even if their grades don’t happen to be as stellar as their classmates’.