The Scariest Parents of All

 I hadn't even stepped foot in the Georgetown University Conference center and was assaulted by the worst type of parent: a helicopter parent! These super controlling and overbearing parents diligently watch over their children's every move. They know where the child is at all times, who they are hanging out with, what their grades are and to top off the horribleness of it all, how their college application is going. I wrote the following at 10AM at Georgetown University

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I became a member of the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS(with the intention of boosting my college resume *rolls eyes*)) and they have "member-only" events which seem like good ideas on the e-mail but as I am finding out, they really aren't. My dad basically dropped me off in the front of Georgetown Hospital and I had to find my way to the Conference room. 

I saw some other kid dressed up with his parent so I naturally followed since they seemed to know where they were going. Well they didn't and pretty soon the father invited me to search with them. The father, Alex, then told me that he came all the way from Kentucky and then the interrogation started. This man asked me where I'm from (Fairfax) and he asked me what grade I'm in (I said Junior). I asked his SON what grade HE is in and the FATHER responded that they (wtf, they???) are a juniors as well. The father then asked me if I'd taken the SAT/ ACT (not yet) and what my score was (!!! how rude!). He asked what colleges I was going to apply to (I'm not 100% sure yet) and if I was in the top 10% of my class (!!! Well not to be cocky but I probably am...). This man was scoping me out as competition for his son and I hated it. Not because he asked a lot of personal academic questions but because of the fact that he was a PARENT! I didn't hear his son say a SINGLE word! I never even found out what his name was. Which is why I now hate helicopter parents. 

The college admissions process is supposed to be (somewhat) fun and a journey where you ask yourself what type of environment you really want to be in. Rolling hills or bustling metropolis? Little school where everyone knows each other or huge crowds at a big school? Is there a party every night or is it a more work-hard play hard type of school? Yet here are these parents who don't let their kids ask those types of questions, because the parents themselves are the ones asking the questions. This was supposed to be a college fair and yet, for the most part, I've seen parents approaching the college representatives with their kids kind of straggling along. It frustrates me because while parents should advise and support their kids THEY are not the ones applying to college, their KIDS are! Blarg!!! I'm going to go talk to someone normal looking now -.-

 

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Thankfully I did find two very normal twin girls to talk to after I wrote that little rant. I actually really liked them because even though they were clearly very bright girls they were thinking outside the box in terms of where to go to college. They had visited over 10 colleges and I hadn't heard of the majority of them but the way they described them they sounded like nice little liberal artsy school where the ratio of guys to girls is 1:2. After the college fair there was supposed to be some big two hour long ceremony but I couldn't handle the environment of the place, the parents were annoying me too much, so I got my ribbon and medal and left early. Will I attend another NSHSS event ever again? Probably. But at least I'll be a little more prepared next time and will try to get as much info out of an admissions officer before a cutthroat playing parent pushes me out of the way.

UYL,

Andre