I spent the morning and early afternoon Feb. 15 with the students on campus for Mount St. Joseph’s third President’s Scholarship event.
One hundred and forty four students and their families were on campus, taking the time to learn about their School of interest within the Mount and about a substantial scholarship to apply for. I had the opportunity to spend the day with a group of students interested in the Mount’s College of Arts & Sciences. However, this isn’t the first time I’ve attended this event.
One year ago on Feb. 3, I visited the Mount for the President’s Scholarship event, taking time away from Saturday of studying and the demands of high school-–of looming AP tests, creative writing magazines to edit, school newspaper articles to write and organize, scholarship essays to write, friends to meet up with, and one final semester of high school to enjoy. At the time, I was still in the throes of uncertainty regarding my college decision–-a painstaking process with an over-detailed spreadsheet at its heart. The weight of choosing a university, of selecting the course the next four years of my life would take, was upon me. As I attended that event, talking with people like Dr. Barkley and Dean Sontag, I confirmed that there was something about the Mount that drew me to the university. At that point, though, there were other schools which appeared promising as well, and it would be another two months of contemplation before I would finally recognize the Mount had everything I was looking for in a school and more.
As a prospective student, the event itself was certainly engaging, but the stress of another deadline frustrated me; I now had yet another application to complete, as announced that day, and with limited time. This wasn’t just some essay I could write or a resume I could submit either. The President’s Scholarship application required a video, a much more intricate task-–for a much more valuable reward. One year ago I was brainstorming the content for my video, then drafting, recording, editing. I was a high school student, nervous about the future, and concerned about having another deadline. When I returned to the same event this year as an MSJ freshman, it was an odd experience, even somewhat surreal at times.
This year at the event, the most blatant difference was that I was not preparing to apply for this scholarship; I did not have to be taking in all the advice and information I could get about the project all while aiming to make a good impression on the professors and administrators I was meeting. Indeed, I’ve done my time, poured my effort into the task of making the video, of displaying what kind of student and person I am; that’s the point of the application. Returning to the same event as a MSJ freshman, the roles had been reversed. I was there not to seek information about the video, or the school, or applications but to instead offer it.
During the event, I talked with many prospective students, sometimes about the video, but also about their interests, their major, their day. At one point, Ella Jane Kuhnell (another student helping with the Arts & Sciences group) and I openly discussed our strategies and advice for the video application and took questions as well. An important part of the day was assuring the students that they will get the project done and offering suggestions for how to do it. I do not think that when I attended that event as a high school senior, I ever imagined that I would be back there a year later to contribute to the day. To look at all of them and know only a year separates us-–and that we are in such different places-–was an interesting feeling.
Even though I was attending the event as an MSJ student and not as a prospective student, several times during the event I had to pause and remember that the information being given and the video application deadline were not for me. But because I know what that application is like, I could empathize with each of the students at that event–-each high senior balancing classes, college decisions, and scholarship applications (including this video). I could certainly understand the context many of these students were in, but returning to help with this event didn’t just remind me of that same experience a year before; it also emphasized how I’ve changed and grown in that year.
First, I am appreciative that I have made my college decision already-–and every day my classes and professors confirm that I made the right choice. I can appreciate how I’m more independent than I was at the time of the event, and I’ve certainly learned a lot since then too. I’m also more confident on the Mount’s campus; I know every building I need to, and I now know many more professors and administrators and students. I am comfortable on campus and can find my way with ease. In a year’s span, I imagine I’ve matured some too, though that’s a bit harder to quantify. In ways big and small, helping with this year's President Scholarship event has prompted me to reflect on how I’ve changed in the year since the roles were reversed.
A year may have passed, but not everything has changed since I was in the position of those prospective Arts & Sciences students I met. The uncertainty initially texturing my college decision has shrunk and been refocused on other questions, like ideas of career and employment. In place of high school workload and deadlines, I instead have my Mount coursework and assignments. Even though my day-to-day life has changed dramatically in a year, not everything is different.
After spending the morning with these 11 students interested in MSJ’s School of Arts & Sciences, I am left wondering, who will I see here next year? In that room of students, I was left in awe at their creativity, passions, and talents. I’m hoping I will see many of their faces next year. There were conversations started-–about writing, about school, about hobbies-–that I’d enjoy being able to pick back up again. And I may be biased, but I think there is a lot to love about the Mount. I hope that these students see what I see in MSJ and will have the opportunity to attend as well.
Even as I type this-–with the event only a few days behind me-–I know the students I interacted with are busy thinking and planning how to complete their application, how to demonstrate their ability to Climb Higher. After helping with this event for just a few hours, I am excited to see who the next winners of the President’s Scholarships will be! I anticipate it will be a very difficult decision.