St. Ignatius's The Eye: Volume LXXIX Number II

I write this article not in an effort to belittle the faculty, staff or students at Ignatius, but in an effort to recognize the mass hysteria of the college admissions process—early signs of which are recognizable from the first days of freshman year.
The “Grad at Grad”: Open to growth, intellectually competent, loving, and religious. These are our mottoes. These are the adjectives which the school hopes will someday be applicable to every student who walks away with a diploma. They represent the purpose of the school itself. Why then does the school, despite its good intentions, seem to focus on these goals simply as a means to an end? Why from freshman year are we given conflicting instructions—sometimes being told to get involved for the sake of getting involved, and others to get involved because colleges will want to see a student who has a consistent resume, chock full of leadership positions. Students can eventually be convinced that without bolstering their resume they will never stand a chance in the college admissions race. So to save ourselves from the horrors of unemployment, we go to meeting after meeting hoping to someday acquire those coveted leadership positions.
Students far too often try new things, are open to growth, because they feel obligated. Everyone has felt it and everyone has heard it. We are intellectually competent because the grade forces us to be. Only the precious few learn for the sake of learning, and yes—it’s like that everywhere, but we claim to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We certainly are loving. The service program at Ignatius is incredible, and second to none in the area. It does countless great things for the community, so why can’t people get involved simply to help, not because you might have a chance for that service scholarship? If the service hours were eliminated, the service programs might lose hope of garnering the new recruits they need. Who denies though, that the majority of the people who have experienced the programs would stay involved because they love what they do for the people they help? If the focus were modified, if we were told to get involved in things we could love, and only those organizations, the club meetings, the service opportunities would seem far less like work. You’d love to spend the time. If the resume ceased to be a consideration, we could sign up for those four AP classes simply to learn the material, we wouldn’t stress out over the big test—we’d just do all we could to learn. We could join C.A.T. just because we felt called to do it. We wouldn’t have to even consider how it would make you look to a college admissions officer sitting at a desk, and examining your life on paper. You might ask me, “How have been affected by the whole process?” I’d tell you that I really don’t know. I do know one thing for sure though. Now I’ll be able to write “Eye Writer” down on my college application.