In 500 Words or Less: Review & Application

I got a class assignment to write a paper over either my graduate assistantship, a case study of a movie/book about higher education, or exploring a topic of interest in greater depth.

In researching possible films to watch, I stumbled upon a documentary I had never heard of: In 500 Words or Less. The sleeve reads

Going to college is a rite of passage for many American high school students, but the process can be overwhelming: college fairs, tours, SATs, applications. And then there's the personal essay. How does a seventeen-year-old define herself to total strangers when she's only beginning to discover who she really is? [...] In 500 Words or Less serves as a portrait of four of the nearly 1.5 million families who go through this process each year. While race, geography, and socio-economic status affected how they got here, their stories converge as they all juggle acceptance, rejection, decision-making, and letting go. 

During my undergrad work with first-year students, I focused on the struggles they would face when they got to the University. Maybe they would be homesick. Maybe they wouldn't be making as many new friends as they'd like, or maybe they wouldn't be getting as involved as they thought. Maybe school would be a little tougher (or easier) than they expected.

I hadn't really thought about how all these things could be the result of a decision in the college application process. I hadn't thought much about how many of them wind up at our metaphorical doorstep with lingering hesitation of 'was this the right choice?'.

Maybe for those who went through a similarly grueling process, these thoughts are more obvious. For me, they weren't. When it came to applying for college, I kind of just chose a school and applied to it, and to that one school only. Luckily I got in. I didn't grow up with a "dream school." I didn't have a dream major either. Because I was fortunate enough to get accepted, I never felt the sting of a rejection from a school and I never knew the discomfort of being wait-listed.

As a to-be student affairs professional, I think it is incredibly important to know where someone has been to know where they are going. In 500 Words or Less made me much more aware of a multitude of things freshmen face before they ever step foot on campus. The film is just a glimpse into four students' lives and the college process, and there are many other stories out there waiting to be heard.