Try to Be Aware

It's easy to forget... sometimes we all get so caught up in our own lives that we forget that not everyone is in the same situation or feel the same way we do. Since we returned from winter break, as more and more college admissions decisions have been arriving, I have noticed that students will sometimes start announcing where they were accepted and their feelings on different schools, forgetting that other students are around. Being accepted is wonderful news and it is completely understandable that you want to shout it from the roof-tops when you have been accepted to a school, but it is also important to be sensitive to those around you and to remember that some of your friends and classmates are NOT being accepted into those very same colleges. While receiving a college rejection letter is hard, it is even more hurtful to hear someone else say something such as, "Oh, I was accepted to ___ (insert name of college) but I would never actually go there." Particularly if the school mentioned was the one where a student was recently rejected and had been their top choice college. So, go ahead and share in your excitement, but please be sensitive to what you say about other schools and how you "rate" your own schools. No one school is perfect for every student and every student is not perfect for every school - it is important to find the right balance and I sincerely believe that every student will be able to find the college that is right for them.