Dear College Admissions Officer

February 4, 2023

Dear College Admissions Officer,

You are reading my daughter’s application. One of thousands. Reading about her grades, her activities, volunteer initiatives, clubs, jobs and life over the past 4 years. Measuring it against your rubric of academics and grit, and well rounded time management machine to decide if she is the right person for your incoming freshman class.

And what is most important about her has nothing to do with her GPA and AP classes, her ACT score and athletic pursuits.

My daughter has eyes that shine like stars. Deep blue from her grandmothers and great grandmothers before her, that reflect everything around her. They are bright and laughing or stormy and piercing but they are always true, and communicate everything.

She is hard on herself. Got that from me. And she works incredibly hard. Also from me. She is meticulously neat, something I greatly appreciate as you can imagine. And determined. Beneath the sweetness is a steel interior.

If you ask her, she will astound you with all she shares. You need to ask. You should ask more.

She is fiercely protective of her younger brother and sister. She does great impersonations and has us peeling in laughter with her quirky wit. She has a lovely singing voice, like a lark. She is driven and goal oriented, a high achiever. But she isn’t about the accolades and rewards. She does her best because that is how she is wired. Even if no one is watching, it is how she is wired.

She has a laugh that starts in her belly and comes up through her shoulders and if it is really funny – her head goes back and it’s like magic hearing that laugh ring out. I could listen to it all day.

Nothing gets in her way. If it needs to get done, she will get it done. And no fuss about it. There is a practicality to her that is beyond her age. As her aunt would say, I would trust her with a mortgage payment she is that responsible. Or your children or your pets as are entrusted to her in her various jobs.

She sees things as they are. And she won’t tolerate not living up to what is the right and just thing to do.

She appreciates breakfast in the morning and likes her ice coffee with almond milk and lots of ice. I wonder how she will manage breakfast next year. And my heart breaks a little knowing it won’t be me making it for her.

She has a slow burn and when it went too far you will know. She is a loyal friend with a listening ear, the one everyone calls for guidance and support. She is my girl. My daughter. Maybe you future student.

She has taught me so much. She made me a Mom. And I will miss her so when she goes. She is more than her grades, her sports, her classes. More than your school and what she wants to study.

She is a girl with a dream of tomorrow and what she can bring to it. She is a girl charting her path towards your campus or another, the next stop on her journey.

So remember, we are giving you our children. Entrusting you with their dreams. We are handing you the future.

Eyes that shine like stars and tell you everything. She will tell you everything, if you ask.

Sincerely,

Mom

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Written by Mary Kate O’Malley