My Response to the College Admission Scandal – I know, I’m a Little Late by: Melinda Tsapatsaris
My response to the College Admission Scandal – I know, I’m a little late. I’m part of the L.A. School Heads network, a group that gets together twice a year for a buffet breakfast of coffee and mediocre muffins, some sort of formal lecture by an area expert, and conversation. For our spring meeting, we were invited to read a biting Atlantic article regarding the college admission scandal, "They Had it Coming," by Caitlin Flanagan. When the college admission scandal story initially broke, I dove into any article I could find, utterly intrigued. At some point, though, my intrigue turned to sadness. The initial titillation and sweet justice of these entitled people getting caught turned saccharin. Thinking about their total lack of ethical behavior; thinking about the cost of these parents’ choices on their children; thinking about the cost on the children across our country who were dutifully and earnestly moving through the behemoth college application process; thinking about the lying, all of the lying. Years ago when I was teaching eleventh and twelfth-grade students, I remember working with Emma, a high school senior, on her college essay. Early that fall, she attended an optional human rights class field trip to see Paul Rusesabagina, the courageous Rwandan hotel manager made famous in Hotel Rwanda, speak. Em went home that night and quickly got writing. The next morning she entered my advisory room, locked eyes with me gripping the paper to her chest, and said seriously, “I think I just wrote my college essay.” It began with the line and I’ll never forget it: “I think I might be spoiled.” It was a beautiful essay. Her voice was authentic and totally hers, the essay had a