Welcome to our series, The School Dispatch! This column will spotlight different students from across the commonwealth, each edition giving someone the opportunity to share the good, bad, and the ugly of what’s going on in their school or district. From unique events, to new trends, to causes of complaint, this series will show readers what Kentucky’s schools look like from a student’s lens.

By Luisa Sanchez

Zack is a first-generation college student who has been working since sophomore year and taking AP classes since the start of high school. As my friend since middle school, we’ve often bonded about our shared academic goals. Even so, Zack had doubts about getting into Ivy League schools. 

“I ended up getting waitlisted at a few of the other schools I applied to, so my hopes weren't really high,” he says. Then, “I saw the Columbia video; that was the first [acceptance] I opened. I was like, ‘Well, maybe they, like, made a mistake or something.’ So when I opened Cornell and Brown, and I got an acceptance letter, I was like, ‘No, this is actually real.' Wow.’”

Leading up to decision day, the application process for Zack didn’t come without its challenges. He had to navigate filling out his FAFSA and CSS profile, finding scholarships, and editing his personal statement and supplements mostly by himself. When it came to writing, he honed in on his identity. “For my Cornell supplements, I talked about a Filipino dance called Tinikling that I would do with some of the Filipino community here in Danville when I was little,” Zack says. 

Zack’s success story is an inspiration for all students, like me, who navigated a challenging senior year. 

With managing academics, extracurriculars, at-home responsibilities, a social life, and college applications, if there is one thing being a senior in high school has taught me, it’s that I simply can't do it all. No matter how good I was at balancing what seemed like a million activities for the past 3 years of high school, this school year, my body, my mind, and my soul have been confronted with exhaustion unlike ever before. 

I’m not the only senior who feels this way. Online, an anonymous post I made about feeling like Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar during my senior year garnered 3,900+ views and 500+ likes. 

Other students share the senior stress.

“It’s extremely mentally draining. It’s always in the back of my head—I think about it every day,” commented Clarissa Martin, a senior who moved to BoCo this year, about her experience applying to college during the first semester. 

Although the fall and beginning of spring semester are periods of hardship and hustle for many seniors, I have been beyond fortunate to receive college guidance through the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) Scholars, a program that helps students from under-resourced socioeconomic backgrounds succeed in the college process. After spending my summer at Princeton and Yale, I’ve been supported by a college advisor and Ivy League professor at every step of my application journey. 

After getting into Yale early action and Harvard regular decision, I hope other young people of color like me feel empowered to apply to elite colleges but don’t rely on these institutions as markers of success. 

“I would say that getting into a top school is great, and it's definitely a big accomplishment, but it doesn't define who you are,” Zack says. “You're going to be the same person, regardless of what a school like Harvard or Columbia or Brown thinks about you. No matter what happens, you still can be great,” he adds.