Spring-type weather has finally arrived, thank heavens. Of course, that makes the school a bit uncomfortable at times, especially since I feel obligated to wear a buttoned-shirt and tie while I am teaching. Sometimes I’m envious of my students wearing their tee shirts and shorts.

Speaking of my kids, this past week has been an emotional roller-coaster ride for many of my seniors awaiting the results of their college applications. Some of them did very well, getting accepted into Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton, but others fell into the cracks and were rejected by schools I thought should have accepted them. College acceptances are so strange; sometimes a strong resume is not as important as which categories the student happens to fall into during which year. College Y might accept student X in 2005 but reject them in 2006 because of the school’s application patterns and volume that year. Of course, that is little solace to the rejected student who knows in their heart that rightfully they belong in that college. And how do I convince them their high school years were actually successful because of the strength of their resume, in spite of their first choice college’s seeming denial of that very fact?

I really wish I could do something more than merely feel sorry for my students.