<p>Thanks for all the responses everyone. It is really interesting to see how people on this forum can totally skew so many things that are miniscule to say a person is “dishonest”. None of you ever have to believe me by no means, and that’s fine but I would like to to just say that I am not dishonest about my life or the things that I’ve been through. Yes, I come from a single-parent household, yes I was homeless while homeschooled.None of it is a lie. Our low income attests to that, records saying my father has never payed child-support, and so on. My mother made $2,000 and PA had to see that since I’m applying for financial aid. that’s not a lie at all. It’s obvious we’ve faced obstacles. Yes, I was homeschooled. When we homeschooled we had to get permission for the city and there are so many records of that. Yes, I was homeless while I was homeschooled. The shelter keeps records of who comes in, and when I was being selected for my scholarship, although there were security protection procedures it was made sure from the homeless shelter that I was homeless there while homeschooled and that I taught myself there, etc. It’s not too surprising that people on this forum do not believe my story because there have been people all through my life who could never believe how my mother did what she did and how I was able to turn out the way I have despite all the hardships. There are people that have told us we would never make it and people that plain out don’t believe all we go through. I can tell you that the girls who are also on the scholarship I have are all so amazing and have gone through things you would never believe and would think are untrue. Together we keep eachother strong, despite many people who just, don’t understand.Sometimes it’s too real or to hard to believe, and I’m used to that. My mother wanted to show me that I can be a ballet dancer, and interested in music and classics and all that stuff regardless of what I go through. She always sacrificed for me to do to this, have a good education, or yes, take a train a few times to NYC to have the experience of modeling. fairchildpg mentioned that andover has no tolerance for dishoesty and absolutley I believe that is true and I am in no way dishonest and I would argue that my current school and oprah winfrey are not tolerant of dishonesty either and they would not have opened such doors for me if I were lying to be someone I’m not. It’s quite obvious when a person would lie about something like this. i’m sure there are plenty of loop holes people could find to prove if I was in fact homeless, homeschooled, poor, etc. and the fact is all of this is true. when I applied to schools in my 8th grade, they didn’t have a phone to call because we had no phone and it’s in their file. they also didn’t have an address, rather correspondance was through a minority program I’m a part of because we moved so many times. the only reason I am even in boarding school is because someone believed in me. while homeless, i could not attend my ballet classes all the time anymore. a good friend of mine was a dancer there and her father and my mom would talk in the lobby since we happened to be the only african-americans at the dance school.when the father asked my mom why I was not coming, she had to tell him that it was because we didn’t have a home, we were living in our car and it was too hard to get to the school. he believed in us and told us about a program called a better chance that placed disadvantaged minorities in prep schools. he was a graduate of the program, ironically. through them, i was able to get to boarding school and a representative in the spring of my 7th grade came to talk with me from there and he came to the homeless shelter. it was through this program that when things did not work out with other boarding schools, I got my scholarship. They knew I was homeless because they came to talk to me while I was homeless in action. You guys don’t have to believe this but obviously since people judge and make assumptions or call a person dishonest, I guess I should share more. To be honest, I would never lie about this and like I’ve said, I have for a long time been very embarrassed about this. It’s not easy to tell a person that your really poor, that you don’t have a phone, that your so thin because you don’t have food, to not have sleepovers at your house like your friends because your house is empty. It’s not easy at all and I wouldn’t lie about it. My mother had to convince me to write an essay about it this because she knows that it is a big part of who I am and no, I have not lied about it. I’m sure that a current Andover student and their family would not recommend the school to me or try to make a way for me to go, if they knew I were dishonest about who I am but my friend at andover and her family know everything my mother and i have been through and that is why they want to help me through this. If people wonder why I chose to write about my SSATs in my essay a short answer is because standardized test scores have always been my weakness and never really shown who I am as a student. I did very well on my PSATs, but badly on my SSAT’s, for example, so it’s always been very fickle for me and depends on the day, the test, whatever. I didn’t harp on SSATs in the essay, rather I mentioned what my obstacles are today and how I am working on them and what I want to do to combat them, which some are math,science, standardized test taking, etc. I’m not trying to come off as so amazing and perfect, rather I recognized me weaknesses and addressed them. If they don’t like that, so what, I’m trying to really tell them who I am and admit what I’m weak at. I wrote and submitted the essay before even knowing the scores. And to be honest, I don’t ever remember getting an 89th percentile on my SSAT’s because my rep from A Better Chance told me that my scores were very low and an 89th percentile does not seem low to me. So, I don’t know where my numbers were coming from. It’s been so long since writing that, that I couldn’t even say what that’s about. Before knowing the outcome, I thought my file when I was applying to prep school in 8th grade was amazing. Why? Because I submitted as much as I could and I worked hard while homschooled. I had a rec from the librarian from the library I used to always go to in 7th grade, rec from a ballet teacher, an essay that I thought was great, a good interview, etc. but looking back it really was weak and I don’t think people should judge based on something I wrote while in 8th grade and in the process. I personally don’t think that a person can build victory on a foundation of lies and dishonesty and I wouldn’t be where I am if I had lied my way through in no way. and blairt, how does a drop in SSAT scores attest to a lack of determination and slacking off once you get to boarding school. I don’t think a single standardized test, which frankly is very controversial and racially censored, can show how determined someone is. I think a test like that is about stategy and unfortunately, i’m not very strategic at standardized tests. and determination is not just about grades either, I think determination is about defeating your obstacles, which yes I have done and continue to do. in my email to andover, i mentioned what steps i am taking to rise from the obstacle of standardized test taking, math, science, etc. whether or not my email to the interviewer helped or not, it does not matter to me because I think the school got a good understanding of me through my personal recs from teachers and advisor, my statements, my mother’s statement, what i’ve done in and outside of my community, the community service i do, etc. In terms of being loyal to my current school, yes it is a great school. I put it in the same tier as andover, exeter, sps regardless of what people might argue. not every school is perfect for everyone and i’m not sure yet if my school is perfect or right for me, but it does not mean i don’t appreciate the school. it has formed me to be someone who has evolved from where i was when I arrived and i have recommended the school to many ppl on this forum, girls back at home, etc. it was hard for me to send in an application because i don’t want to seem ungrateful to what I’ve been given, which is why I applied to only one school and not a whole bunch because i do not intend to just leave to any school and forget about what I’ve been given. i’m trying to follow my passion for classics and ballet and I applied after my advisor and teacher advising me to weigh my options and follow my heart where I could get the most out of my last, most important two years. It’s not in any way me being not loyal and just because I’m accepted, does not mean I will just leave. From now until then, I am weighing out everything and i don’t know which way I’ll go but either way, I’m following my heart, either by going after my interests or staying to work hard and do my best for ms.winfrey and the people here that changed my life.Andover has the right to accept me or reject me, absolutley and if I am rejected, it is not because I was dishonest, but because it wasn’t meant to be. My advisor, ms.winfrey, people who truly know me know that my background is true and that is supported in their recommendations, from my mother, not just from me. And in no way, do I expect for Andover do get me in to Harvard. And to be honest, people on this forum have no idea what it is that attracts me to harvard. people don’t even know that frankly, i don’t even know if i want to go there anymore. I can tell you that it is not the prestige by no means, just how I haven’t applied to andover for prestige, raher it was because i’m wanting to chase after my deepest interests at a school that offers it, in addition to diversity, great academics, etc. </p>
<p>blairt:
please keep in mind that it not too easy to pursue ballet while at boarding school. ballet is not offered everywhere, especially when a dancer is looking for advanced, classical ballet. I have tried doing this off-campus, but my mother can no longer afford lessons next year, transportation is very difficult, so I won’t be able to continue with ballet next year off campus. please also keep in mind that yes, you can do independent study which I have already begun doing and am doing this summer, but only one teacher at my school can teach those independents in latin and greek, as I am intersted in, and they are not offered every year and now that they have a newborn, they will not be offered next year. this is why i chose to weigh my options and it’s not like I am not realizing or trying to work with what i have. and no, i’m not trying to use my situation from two years ago even though being accustomed to my situation now. please keep in mind, that although my school situation and living environment at school is nicer, i have to go home and going home keeps you reminded and humble and aware of your past and not only that but your past carries with you and you you don’t just forget about it once you’ve gotten a piece of the american dream. it lives with you in all you do. i realized that when I came to boarding school and that is what i wrote about to andover and how although i try to move on from it, it forms me now.i’m sorry if you do not understand that, because it can be a complicated thing, but that is the case for me. try to think of ms.winfrey. although she is such a success and amazing and fine now, she still remembers her hardships today and she justifies it by being a humanitarian, writing about it, talking about it. absolutley, she could just forget about it now that she’s fine but she doesn’t and i understand that in her.
and msu: i’m not using my background to get in. i don’t think a person can get in for that one thing, although i may be wrong, but in my application, i focused on expressing who i am through the things i’ve done like going to africa to work with poor kids and aids infected kids, or my involvement with my school christian group, or writing for my school paper, or how i’ve challenged myself with ballet and classics, that was the bulk of how I presented myself. I didn’t even mentione my story in any part other than my essay (not in my interview, short answers, nothing). The only reason why I shared my story here is because I think it has formed me and shaped my strengths and weaknesses and i’m not trying to get in my saying “hey i was homeless” but by saying that that experience was so profound that “this is why I am the way I am”. So, my point is, you guys need to realize that you can’t call a person dishonest when you don’t know them and also that there is no way that i could ever lie about my background or get this far by lying about it. you can’t judge that i’m not loyal to my school or anyone, when you don’t know all reasons why I chose to apply to this one school, or who has encouraged me to give it a shot. you don’t have to believe me at all and it’s too bad people are negative. there may be “inconsistencies” in what I have written like 2 years ago, but that does not mean I’m dishonest or lying about who I am, but the fact that none of you know my full background and are tring to analyze and put together the meaning of different posts and sometimes when you put them I also do not understand why all of you seem to be focusing just on my story, and not really looking at other things I mentioned. My story may be inspiring, and thank you for saying that, but I would love to be recognized for the other things I have done such as what I’ve done in my school or helping kids or things like that. There’s more to me than my story and I shared it so you could unserstand a little my character. But, it’s all good. I know who I am and the people who togehter they don’t make sense because you don’t know everything. have believed in me and helped me along the way know who I am. I will someday write my life story, and maybe my mother’s, as well. And soon, you will see me on oprah and I hope then you will recognize then, and I speak for everyone that has faced something in their life extraordinary, that just because people on the outside can’t understand, does not mean that you should ever forget or question or be ashamed or try to not share your light. Regardless of what happens, I will keep moving forward and doing my best and dreaming, even though people may never understand and people may never believe me.</p>