If you have ever been a prepubescent girl, you probably remember M.A.S.H. If not, the letters stand for Mansion, Apartment, Shack and House. It’s a game designed to “foretell” your future husband, job, and living arrangements, of course. It was always thrilling to imagine the best possible future for yourself; you didn’t have to limit your rose-colored visions with silly-old rational thinking, because it was just a game.
But, sadly, I have become too old for those kinds of games. With real life coming up, my head needs to be out of the clouds, and I need to put that silly-old rational thinking to good use.
I am from Mexico; my entire family is from Mexico. My parents don’t even fully understand the significance of the Ivies. The price tags make up the biggest part of their understanding.
But I understand the significance; I understand the difficulty and overwhelming competitiveness. So the big schools have always been in my mind, but I’ve slowly pushed them back with the “M.A.S.H.” dreams.
I’ve always held the ideology that anything is possible: “Ask and you shall receive.” But when I’m faced with actually having to fill out college applications and drawing up a financial plan for wherever I get in, it’s easy to be discouraged by the nagging little “realistic” downer voices in my head.
But SJP has brought back that starry-eyed fifth-grader who wasn’t afraid to dream big (as romanticized and cheesy as that may be). This time around, rational thinking doesn’t bog me down. It reinforces my aspirations, and it’s so much more rewarding that way. This program has already given me more confidence in my dreams; it’s not silly. My highest goals, my “M.A.S.H.’s,” are achievable.
No comments:
Post a Comment