Looking Forward

The admissions' officer at MIT said that William Barton Rogers, the founder of MIT, established the school because (and this is from memory, so please don't requote), "All of the other Ivies look to the past. We will look to the future."

And so will we. Six of West Contra Costa's best and brightest are now officially enrolled in 2 Brown courses, three in DNA and three others in macroeconomics. And they are not just bright young people, but they are also motivated, attentive, flexible, and curious. They have judgments but are not judgmental; they have opinions but are not opinionated. The next 3 weeks will allow them to stretch and grow in ways yet unclear, yet certainly stimulating.

Personally, I have learned much this week and wonder if I would have known much of this information if I had a child at this point in life. When that occurred (many years ago), I did not know the intricacies of applying to college. After all, in my memory, one applied, was accepted, and then considered the financial aid package. This is truly a different world.These young people are bewildered by both choice and lack of information. We have to do something to alter this! It is truly social injustice when our bright kids do not have access to some basic information that would alter their futures -- and ours, for that matter. We absolutely need these students (all of them) to be educated to their full potential. We will all rely on this as a community and as a country. Todd Groves had some thoughts about this in a note to Mr. Ramsey. I wonder if others have ideas. I believe that we need to demand this basic equality. Certainly not every student can attend a summer program such as this, but every student (and, yes, I really mean every one) deserves access to the information. How can we disseminate this? What should they know?

Mr. Crosby and I had several talks about this and will begin the process by creating a sort of checklist -- what you should know before you visit a college (virtual or real) and what you should ask while there. 

On the steps of the Brown Student Center

I cannot tell you what fun and what an honor it was to chaperone these students for the past week. They all showed intelligence, camaraderie, and enthusiasm -- among other qualities. Now the next part of of each of their personal journeys begins.