“. . . he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
In my first blog posting of the year (I’m sure you all have it committed to memory), I claimed that if you spent too much time with your nose in the college guide books, the college search would seem like an overwhelming 4th grade project on birds.
Well, now the shoe is on the other foot — it is our turn. As I sit here on Sunday afternoon watching the perfect Patriots on television, I am distracted (marginally) by the stack of applications on my coffee table. When considered as a whole, reading these applications can be overwhelming. But the only thing for us to do is to simply tackle these applications one at a time, bird by bird.
And when you take that approach, reading applications can be (gasp!) fun. I’ve read some wonderful essays so far this year about the determination of female preemies, a lesson learned from a French girl at summer camp or even something as simple as a swim in the ocean.
So I guess what I want to say is thank you.
Thank you for telling us about your Eagle Scout project.
Thank you for having the guts to take Calculus.
Thank you for fessing up to that mistake.
Thank you for sending us a Christmas card.
Thank you for sending that CD of you playing the violin (Bach was my favorite).
Thank you for applying.
Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions
College of the Holy Cross
January 15th is a day that is circled on many calendars across the country for a variety of reasons. Did you know that on January 15, 1559, Queen Elizabeth I was crowned? In 1622, French writer Molière was born? In 1922, Irish revolutionary Michael Collins became the Irish Free States’ first premier? In 1929, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born? And in 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I.? Well, it’s true. And in addition to those events, January 15th is important at Holy Cross because it is the deadline for regular decision applications.
Many of you are probably breathing sighs of relief right now as you finalize and finally submit your applications for college. For us in the office, we’re just getting warmed up as the applications fly into our reading bins. At this point in the year, we start to buckle down at home and in the office shedding our heels and ties so if you swing by, don’t be surprised to see us romping about in jeans and sneakers. And if we’re at home, most of us are probably decked out in our favorite bathrobes and slippers. Because we read using a pencil, many of us, if not all, have finally chosen our season’s pencils that promise never ending writing comfort for the next two months but ultimately fall a bit short because the nature of this task that lies ahead dictates inevitable writing calluses at some point. But no matter how tedious and sometimes unkind the task is, I have to admit that it’s one of my favorite parts of the job and I speculate that many of my colleagues would agree. I learn about different facets of young peoples’ lives that are funny, entertaining, whimsical, inspiring and sometimes sad. I get to meet interesting and unique individuals from all over the country and even from various parts of the world, all without ever leaving my chair.
Phew!
