Student Union
- By Pete Musto
Look Inward Before Letting Others Pick Your Path
Before future college students embark on the road to a degree and successful career, they should look inward, says one admissions officer.
“If you understand who you are,” Jennifer Simons told VOA, “you are less likely to fall prey to somebody else's vision for what you should be or where you should go.”
Like well-meaning parents or guidance counselors.
Simons is the director of undergraduate admissions and recruitment at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. She suggests that young people try to better understand themselves before making any decisions about their life path once they leave home.
In the United States, the process starts in the final two years of high school, when students are about 16 or 17 years old. They decide where to go to college and what subjects they will study.
With so many choices, however, these questions can seem very difficult to answer, Simons says.
Young people should start keeping a journal long before the application process. She says they should ask themselves, “Who am I?” and “What do I want out of life?” as well as, “What are my strengths and weaknesses?”
Write daily or weekly, she advises, commenting on events can help them understand the world and themselves.
The answers help students figure out subsequent and more specific questions, she says, about where to study. It can help them prepare for the essays most college applications require.
In addition, she says, students who know their strengths will better understand how to ask people how to write letters of recommendation for them.
Simons says the more young people know themselves, they more likely they will be to make decisions that bring them happiness. This includes more than just decisions about college.
The application process helps students learn to organize, too, among their studies, relationships and jobs. Applying requires them to identify schools that interest them, make information requests and prepare application materials.
Simons says balancing responsibilities is one of the most important skills anyone can learn.
“I think that you really are laying the groundwork for becoming an adult by learning how to prioritize your time,” she says.
Learning to ask for help is an equally important lesson. School counselors, older students, friends and family members who have attended college can be important resources.
And thanking people for that help is important, Simons says. A simple practice young people can learn is sending a letter or email of thanks to those who helped.
Networking and building relationships are important outside the college application process. Simons suggests students connect with teachers, classmates and acquaintances. This can help in the future as they seek jobs or additional education.
One final lesson students can take from the application process is accepting that their control of the situation is limited, Simons says. She points out that every college and university in the United States receives hundreds, if not thousands, of applications every year. Competition is fierce, so not everyone is going to get into his or her first or even second choice of school.
“There are many places where you could be happy,” she said. “I think that is human to … feel like, ‘Oh, this is the perfect fit.' And that happens in relationships, too. But, there's more than one place where you could be satisfied.”
Simons says that accepting rejection and learning how to move past it is probably the most important lesson of all.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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