Pacifica Stories

There is one undoubted and invariable truth for members of the class of 2024. They are already sick of the dreaded question, Where are you going to college? Of course, this question can take on various forms that differ in syntax or structure…What are you doing next year? Have you narrowed down your college choices? Where are you applying? Really, it is all rooted in a quest for the same information. Or, more cynically, it is an easy avenue into small talk with a seventeen year old. Either way, we older folks are just trying to get an answer to the same questions that our kids have been wrestling with since they were playing with toy fire trucks, dollhouses, and stuffed animals: What do I want to be when I grow up? Or, at a more fundamental level: What am I here to do? What is my identity? What is my purpose?

Most would not admit it outright. Some would not even acknowledge it in silence. But, I believe that if we honestly examine our society, one reason that some educators, parents, and other grown folk love asking The College Question is that it can build an artificial through-line to The Purpose Question. If you tell me that you are going to Harvard, I am assured that you have found your purpose in this world. You will be rich and successful and we will all say that we knew you when. If you tell me that you are not sure of your path and that you are still looking at various options, I am certain that you may need a serious intervention… like tonight after dinner.

Ok, that is perhaps slightly exaggerated, but this line of thinking is certainly prevalent in culture and an immersive, although rather recent, development in the landscape of Western Civilization. Still, I would argue that this is fundamentally detrimental to the maturation process of our young men and women. If this marker is defined as essential to their purpose on this planet, it undercuts their very nature. That’s why kids grow to dread this question. It is not because they do not want to celebrate their success. It is not because they are not excited about the journey. It is not because they don’t want to tell all of their family, friends, classmates, and teachers where they are headed in the future. It is not even that there is a fear of admitting failure or rejection. They hate the question because at their core they know that this application cycle, this essay, this scholarship offer, this acceptance or rejection is only a piece of their experience as a human. It cannot and will not determine who they are.

At Pacifica, our teachers and college counseling team are subverting this cultural narrative. Two weeks ago, we hosted our first Senior College Night. Nearly every senior family was in attendance. Soon after, we have our first Junior College Retreat. We plan schedules, build programs, add electives and APs, and have one on one college meetings with every student because we want Pacificans to thrive and have the opportunity to go to the college of their dreams. But, throughout this process, we constantly reinforce the truth that separates us from our culture. You are more than the college that you choose. If your dream is Harvard, awesome, let’s build a schedule and a list of extracurriculars that helps you get there. But, Harvard does not define you. In fact, what you learn in the pursuit of Harvard is even more important than the admissions decision. If you want to go to UC Irvine, awesome, let’s build a path for you to get there and look at examples of students that achieved that goal. But, you have so much to offer this world even if you end up at a different school either by choice or necessity. 

Pacifica has sent and will send students to some of the best universities in the world. Our college counseling team is second to none. The class of 2024 will have much to celebrate! But our why is different. We strive for greatness because of our purpose, not in pursuit of a purpose. We provide every opportunity for our students to go to colleges on their dream list because they are uniquely created to do great things, not because they will somehow discover their identity based on the masthead on an acceptance letter. Our students are created uniquely by our Creator. They are crafting lives over resumes. And while college is certainly an important step in the journey, our deep hope at Pacifica is that every student’s choice is made from a deeper place on the journey to thinking and living well.

Learn more about College Counseling at Paciifca.