Lily’s blog

Dervala’s recent post http://dervala.net/2009/04/07/green-card/ about her Green card application got me thinking.

John has applied to college in the US and like with Dervala and her Green card application, a number of colleges now know more about John than most  - the college application process is so thorough.

There are multiple forms, some common to a number of colleges, specials for most colleges. Basically the student fills out the first form of general information, a second with much more detail including academic results, SAT testing dates, interests etc. For the latter form the applicant has to write a number of essays. Then it's on to the school section where a number of teachers report on the applicant. Then onto copies of any significant achievements. The process seems interminable.

This is not the Irish CAO (Central Applications Office) system where a few details such as name, date of birth and a list of which colleges in order of preference suffices. Though I can honestly say I see merits in both college application systems.

When it was Patrick's turn at applying for US college and the later stage of proving that he had been inoculated against a myriad of infections, his mother let him down. Inoculation records were thin on the ground and after much searching for proof that at three months he had received his jabs, a friend suggested - just get him tested to prove he is immune to them all. What a bright idea. That's exactly what we did. So John, still more testing awaits you.

In the US, schools support the college application process. Outside the US it is up to the student to work it out. I was John's 'personal assistant' in the process. I did the photocopying. I checked did the correct forms go into the correct envelopes. I made the coffee. If I could suggest one improvement to US college entrance offices, it would be 'please can the deadline not be 1st January?'. I'm sure the Christmases of many college aspirants are spent under seemingly endless paper mountains. But again one can be certain that this deadline date has already been hotly debated in the corridors of academia.

In this whole unending paper mountain, one joy frequently came. John would come downstairs and say he had written yet another essay. The joy was in reading these essays. His essays were hilarious, funny, witty, sensitive. Here was John going off to college - summarising his childhood in approximately 500 words. I asked John could I keep a copy of the essays and he said yea. So now John is kinda guest posting on my blog. Here is one of his essays with his permission. The theme for this essay was to describe oneself to a prospective college roommate.

Dear Roommate,

I guess I have to come clean. I'm a wee bit obsessive. No. I'm EXTREMELY obsessive. About what? That's the point - nothing specific really. I'm just extremely obsessive about... life. Not in an OCD way or anything. No, I've no medical or psychological excuses for the way I am.

 I guess I mean that my life and thoughts tend to be slightly... effected by whatever I'm currently concentrating on. In the week leading up to my flying theory exam, I talked and thought of little else. I tried to estimate the runway friction index our floor would have. I tried to convert my bike's speedometer to knots. The nice coffee shop lady wondered why I was reciting cloud types (nimbostratus latte, anyone?). I converted numbers from magnetic headings to true headings, even if they weren't headings at all (they were grocery prices, I think).

Same thing goes for when I was working on an online auction startup. I woke up, wrote code, then went to bed. For weeks and weeks. Breaks came in the form of brief but intense bouts of indoor soccer (with our Dell servers as goalposts). I ate, lived, slept and thought auctions. I tried to recruit a cab driver to our software when he mentioned he sold on eBay.

So, future roommate, what must you expect? Well, I guess you can expect to know what my current focus is, all of the time. I could be beginning Arabic or repairing my bike or learning the concertina (a long-time unfulfilled ambition - do you play by any chance?) - if I am, you'll know about it. In fact, you'll probably be well qualified to set up a bike-cum-concertina repair shop in Tunisia by the time I'm finished. Don't expect any order or predictability in my life. You might come in to find a huge pile of timber on my bed (I'm building a giant concertina for a bet), and the next day I'll be joined by my pen pal from Cairo who's helping me build it.

So what can I offer in return for my eccentricities? Well firstly, I'm actually a good roommate. When the giant concertina sits completed on my bed next to the wad of cash from the bet, you won't find a speck of sawdust anywhere. More importantly, I'm as happy to obsess on your things as mine. I'm generous with my time and efforts. I'll stay up all night making you flash cards for your biology exam (in English even, if your Arabic isn't up to scratch yet). I'll repair your bike too.

Oh and most importantly, I'm a pretty good cook.

Faithfully,
John

John is off at 'Campus Preview Weekend' in the States at the moment. By May 1st he will have to have chosen his college. I could be accused of being a hugely biased mother, but I think it will be a lucky college that gets him!