For Teen Vogue's 'Unequal' series, eminietfeld shares her experience as a former foster youth pressured to divulge her personal history in a college essay, and how universities can rethink ways to make admissions more equitable for everyone.
As a teenager, the burden of proof felt crushing for me. After I submitted my applications, almost every admissions office wanted to verify the facts. With no way to access court records that I didn’t know existed, I scrounged up the evidence I could find: a letter from my county-appointed mentor, an email from my social worker, a note from a homeless shelter. As paltry as this documentation seemed, I felt lucky to have it — so many hardships leave no paper trail.
As I rehashed the details, I felt tremendous pressure to remain upbeat and positive. Colleges, I knew, look for “over-comers.” A double bind haunts any student who discusses adversity: Be honest and risk seeming like a Debbie Downer or omit negative details and raise questions about dropped classes and school changes. In my essays, I struggled not to sound too glum while describing my situation. I had to find the bright side of sleeping in my car.
Sixto Cancel, who is Black and Hispanic, wrote a personal statement for his application called “America’s Angriest Colored Child,” about his resilience while bouncing between homes. He argues that individual experiences of adversity are beside the point; affirmative action, he maintains, exists as a structural solution to a structural problem that denies opportunities to a group of people.
Stephanie Gravalese, whose essay described her experience as a ward of the state and the racism she faced as an Afrolatina in a predominantly white school, says Alito’s proposed solution “trivializes the experience of being taken away from my parents.” Making college applicants write purposefully lurid prose about trauma like abuse, neglect, and family separation equates those experiences with the common essay prompt “what I did on my summer vacation.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Texas winter storm trauma lingersThe storm itself was a lot of for Texans to process mentally and emotionally. Therapist Jessica Reynolds in San Antonio says it’s a lot more serious than folks realize.
Consulte Mais informação »
Pink Talks ‘Trustfall,’ Trauma and Making It In The Music IndustryP!nk opens up about how her new 'Trustfall' album explores the tougher moments in life and reflects on her origin story.
Consulte Mais informação »
A look at day-to-day trauma operations at Brooke Army Medical CenterThe center is responsible for over a quarter of a million military beneficiaries around San Antonio and for about half of the city’s trauma mission, a level of coverage not seen anywhere else.
Consulte Mais informação »
Is the Impact of Trauma on Mental Health Overestimated?Childhood trauma may not be as important a factor in mental health diagnoses as generally thought, new research finds. pedipsych explains.
Consulte Mais informação »
What it took for Frank Sennett to write his new novel, the political thriller ‘Shadow State’“I wanted to really show the effects of trauma and grief on protagonists and antagonists alike,” says Frank Sennet on his recently released novel, a sophisticated political thriller titled “Shadow State.”
Consulte Mais informação »
Ukraine's troops get help for PTSD, but then head straight back to brutal trench warfare on front linesA year of intense fighting in Ukraine — often hand-to-hand in muddy trenches, has taken a brutal psychological toll on a military built largely of volunteers.
Consulte Mais informação »