The Albatross of College Auditions

By now, all high school seniors should have received their acceptance letters and had made a decision on which school to attend in the fall. A year ago, the process weighed on me, more so than my college-bound child. The boy decided to make college application even more complex, by deciding to apply in a BFA program which requires an audition taking the competitive nature of it all to a much higher level as difficult as applying to physical therapy or med school. Not only he needed to be accepted academically but artistically as well in a program which only admits 8 to 16 students. As a mother, it was hard not to get involved. As much as I tried to distance myself from the whole process, I found myself emotionally wrapped up as I accompany him traversing the country to do these auditions as a driver, personal assistant and 'mom.' I tried to be the most supportive and encouraging parent when he felt things didn't go so well. During the process, I came to admire my child even more and couldn't help but give myself a pat in the back for having been a contributor in raising an individual with so much strength and courage to face even the toughest rejections and bounce back with head still held up high. Visiting sites such as College Confidential cranked up my anxiety to a whole new level. There was a point when I thought my son would be left without a school acceptance. Why couldn't he just be normal? He had been academically accepted to 3 good schools. He could attend to any of those. But my dreams weren't his and his life wasn't mine to live. He ended up with 2 acceptances and the one he chose was the school environment that's nurturing unlike others he visited and auditioned where the competitive strain was so palpable on the surface. He is currently very happy and thriving where he is. I've seen how much he's grown not just as a fine arts student but as a human being. This spring, while my husband and I were on college visits for our junior student, those audition memories of our oldest son came flooding back. Although our youngest student is choosing a different path than his brother, there's one thing I've learned among others. This time, I didn't visit College Confidential.

#college #auditions #finearts #BFA #collegeconfidential #momsofcollegeboundkids

My oldest son in the campus where he feels a sense of belonging.