The 5,000+ Collegewise students we’ve helped find and get accepted to the right colleges remind us all the time how true my three over-arching themes on this blog are:
- The path to college should be an exciting time for every family.
- Prestigious colleges aren’t inherently better schools.
- What you do in college will be more important than where you do it.
Last month, the president of Point Loma Nazarene University in California asked five department heads to each nominate a student they believe will make a mark on the world. One of the five chosen is our former Collegewise student, Kami (shared here with permission).
From the president of Point Loma's annual report,
Fortunately, she (Kami) found a strong encourager in her advisor, Susan Rogers, chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. Rogers and Kami share a passion for child and adolescent development (Kami’s major) and a particular interest in family systems…Now a sophomore, Kami has fully immersed herself in her education. She is a teacher’s assistant at PLNU’s Early Childhood Learning Center, leads a student dance ministry, and works in the theatre.
The full story appears on page 8 (Kami also made the cover).
A school can tout small classes, personal attention, and caring professors. A school like Point Loma can also promise an environment where religious students can grow both spiritually and intellectually. But no matter what a college promises (or how famous the school making the promises is), it is always up to the student to take advantage of those opportunities like Kami is doing at Point Loma.
Kami and her parents started her college search with one goal—to find the right school where Kami could be happy and successful, and that also fit within their family’s budget. Since she arrived on campus, it’s been up to Kami to make the most of her experience. It hasn’t always been easy or perfect (no worthwhile experience is), but Kami is making an impact in and out of the classroom. She’s getting noticed by the faculty. She’s accumulating experiences for her resume and finding mentors who can guide her. And she’s only a sophomore. Imagine how much she’ll have to show for her four years on campus when she graduates.
You can do it, too. Look for the right schools, whether or not they’re famous. Enjoy the journey. And once you get to college, make it a daily mission to extract as much learning, growth and value from the experience as you can.
Congratulations, Kami. We’re all looking forward to seeing what you do next.