This week we welcome Assistant Director of Admission, Ashley Brookshire, to the blog. Welcome, Ashley!
I am a proud mom to three amazing kiddos (the youngest is only 10 months old, so it’s hard to tell quite yet, but we’re pretty sure she’s on the path to awesomeness).
As a parent, I try to maintain consistency with communication and expectations in my house. When I’m wearing my “setting expectations” hat, I make sure we’re all on the same page with the basics: how we treat ourselves and others, responsibilities, priorities, safety, etc. You get the idea.
But when I put on my “coach” hat, messaging to each of my children begins to vary. My oldest daughter is creative, curious, and tenderhearted. As I watch her interact with the world outside of our home, I’ve found that my coaching job focuses on confidence. “Don’t be afraid to let people see you try.” The best, wisest advice that I’m able to give to her stems from the hope that she won’t let her anxiety, fear, or embarrassment keep her from trying something new or sticking with something hard.
But when I’m “Coach Mom” for my second child, that messaging changes. In fact, I wish her baseline for fear was a bit higher. She is observant, bold, and silly. She is happy to jump headfirst (literally!) into any situation. My second-born-specific messaging is more guardrails-focused, and at times, the complete opposite of what I’m telling my oldest. “Instead of running full speed, pause and think first so you can put your best foot forward.”
Knowing my children well completely changes the guidance I provide to them. I wouldn’t tell my reserved child to slow down and think more before interacting with others, just like I wouldn’t tell my tiny extrovert that she needs to put herself out there more. The encouragement that makes the most sense for each of them is based on knowing them as unique individuals.
Setting Expectations
College admission offices often find themselves in similar roles. It’s typically easier for a college to wear its “setting expectations” hat. Messaging in our emails, on websites, and delivered via information sessions is fairly universal in nature: these are the steps you need to take to apply, these are the factors we consider in our review, here are the choices you’ll have if you enroll on our campus.
What’s more challenging – if not impossible – is for a college to put on a “coach” hat and deliver tailored, student-specific guidance about the admission process. Students often ask us what they should be doing outside of school to increase their chances of being admitted. But the reality is, we haven’t had the privilege of watching you grow up. We weren’t there when you started high school and began making choices about which courses to take, what clubs to pursue, or how to engage beyond the classroom. Our best, wisest guidance on this question falls short because we don’t really know you at this stage. We get to know you much better through the application process, but I’m often asked this question during a single point of contact (at a college fair booth, after an information session, etc.).
With that in mind, what personally impersonal coaching advice can I provide to students who are thinking about the ways they engage outside of the classroom during their high school years? Here are some of the traits and experiences that students who thrive on our campus have demonstrated before enrolling at college. These are the “expectations.” I’ll leave you to apply them in a way that fits your interests, strengths, and aspirations.
Manage Your Time
Your time is finite. Guard it. Be intentional with it. Understand what things should be prioritized and what things fill in the surrounding bits of time. Once you’ve dedicated space for the important and time-sensitive things, you’ll be able to more accurately assess how much time you have available (and want to dedicate) in other directions.
Play Well with Others
Big picture: Working well with people is critically important. After all, relationships are what separate us from the machines!
What does that look like for you? Does that manifest as the comfortable leader of a large team, or the quietly engaged doer behind the scenes? Building and maintaining relationships, and learning to value the humanity of us humans, is key. The ways in which you do that are up to you.
Make an Impact
The longer you are an active and engaged member of a team, club, work environment, etc., the more familiar you will become with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of that group. Do you see an opportunity to make things better? Cultivate an environment of collaboration? Increase access, efficiency, or effectiveness?
It is not my place to tell you where or how to have an impact. You know where your interests lie and what your own observations are showing you. But I can tell you that developing into an individual with the ability to have actual, internally-driven, people-aware impact is a strength that will serve you well through college and beyond.
Follow Your Heart/Brain/Skillset/Curiosity….
Did you notice that the first three bullets on this list are universally applicable? As you read each one, what came to mind? Are there spaces where you’re already involved and want to lean in further? Are there things that you aren’t doing, and you’d like to find ways to begin?
At risk of being even more cliche than I’ve already been: You do you. Listen to that internal nudge that encourages you to engage in that club/sport/job/hobby/service organization/family responsibility in a way that allows you to grow and serve others.
It is not possible (or appropriate) for a college to chart an exact course for you to follow. We don’t know you like you know you. What we can tell you is the types of traits and experiences that have served students on our campus well, and hope that you find ways to personally apply that information in the context of your unique interests and opportunities.
Ashley has worked in the Georgia Tech Office of Undergraduate Admission since graduating from the Institute in 2010 with a B.S. in History, Technology, and Society. In her time with Georgia Tech, she has worked within first-year admission recruitment and review and Dual Enrollment initiatives. For nine years, she served as Tech’s representative on the West Coast, and recently relocated back to the Atlanta campus. As a life-long Yellow Jacket, Ashley’s love for Georgia Tech runs deep and she is passionate about assisting students and families navigate the college admission process.