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Recently, I came across compelling words from Mahatma
Gandhi:
“Be the change that you want to see in the
world.”
In preparing students for interviews on
college visits, I ask them to consider what concerns them
about the world they live in: What do they see as important
issues of today? What would they like to change?
When
we discuss essay questions on college applications, there is
often a question that asks the student to discuss an issue of
personal, local, national or international concern and its
importance.
At commencement, invariably, graduates
will be reminded that they are the hope of the world, the next
generation to improve upon what their forbears have done
successfully or badly.
These are challenging times. As
students in high school plow through the demands of the
college selection process, they are necessarily intent on
getting into a college of their choice. This goal is, for a
time, all-consuming. However, it is only a small step to a
larger purpose.
The questions addressed at an
admissions interview or in an application are more than
measurements. While the exhortations at graduation might seem
to be high-minded words, they are much more. They highlight
the expectations that are held for young adults entering
college.
A college education is a gift and a
responsibility. It brings talented people with youthful energy
together to live and study in a community of peers. It is a
unique opportunity to grow intellectually and to prepare to
take a meaningful place in our troubled world.
So when
a student is asked these questions and issued the commencement
challenge, it is the time to look within and consider not only
how to get to college, but also how to realize the gift and
the responsibility fully, how to work toward becoming “the
change that you want to see in the world.”
Listen to
the thoughts of one of my former students, a recent college
graduate, reflecting on her college
experience.
"Certainly college helped me not only see
what I could accomplish, but also gave me the resources to
actually achieve these goals. As an international relations
major, I not only learned about conflict and poverty, but also
saw how I could make a difference in a tangible way. I worked
in Africa after graduation, and while I could not predict how
unique my experience there would be, I was prepared to face
challenges with confidence and a critical eye. What had been a
theoretical discussion in class was now an opportunity to
improve the lives of those living in third world poverty. Even
now, working in the private sector, I see myself as a global
citizen. Every choice I make, or action I take, includes
consideration of the impact it might have on the world around
me."
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