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Finding a Diamond in the Rough

By Julianne Scibetta, Albany College of Pharmacy

Last month I wrote about how women have extraordinarily large amounts of pressure to be perfect. This month I’d like to step back a bit and take a broader look at what’s happened to the current population that contributes to this expectation of women.

A trend which any admissions counselor could identify is that for many students, what used to be considered above and beyond qualifications is now standard issue. Students have accumulated titles, responsibility, volunteerism, and leadership roles like a magnet in a pile of iron fillings. Yet all of us looking at those qualifications are still under the old-school expectations that see all of these qualifications as impressive. This leads to a sense of entitlement and sometimes, in part, apathy on the part of the student. It’s too easy, now, to jump through the hoops.

This presents a two-sided problem.

1. How do we (administrators) distinguish the diamonds from the rough?
2. How do students distinguish their fire in a sea of scintillation?

Maybe we need to take a step back further and thank the hovering helicopter parents for unknowingly contributing to this situation. We need to recognize that they are far more sophisticated than their parents before them.

While there are still and will always be first-generation college students entering higher education, there are more students today whose parents did go to college than before. Parents who were in college are more aware of how important it is, how hard it is to get in, and how to make their kids more entrance-worthy. They also allowed their children to over commit themselves, and through parental pressure every student gets a trophy for something. That’s how we ended up with the multitasking, glowing kids. And if not for these out of school commitments, would the minivan still be a viable option over the equally-safe and slightly-more mile-conscious station wagon?

So we see students who have been told all their lives, if you do xyz you’ll be a shoe-in model for any job. Except no one really considered that everyone up for the job now has the same mix of xyz factors.

I am not discouraging involvement, community service, or even achievement – it’s a wonderful thing to contribute positively to our society. The thorn in my side is that originality and creativity are glaringly missing from students, who have settled into the comforts of entitlement simply because of the xyz. The answers to interviews for tutoring, for other student leadership jobs, are pretty straightforward – and pretty much the same. We know from past experience that not everyone who interviews well is a great tutor, or a great employee. Is there a way we can overcome the blinders that a beautiful resume creates for us?

I am a fan of group interviews. If you’re in a larger school you may already use this technique for its efficiency. The more students are out of their comfort zone, or are given a task to complete, the further you can see into how that student will interact with others.

Digital portfolios are also gaining popularity as an assessment tool, especially for first-year college courses and seminars. In many institutions, the portfolio is “kept” and continuously edited throughout the student’s career at the school. To address the creativity issue, ask to see the student’s portfolio or make it a part of your interview requirement to see a mock-up of what a student would do to add their new title of tutoring to their existing portfolio. Draw out from students what their own influence can be on the program. The more you ask students to do for an interview (whether it be short answer / essay questions, prepare a speech, or prepare a lesson plan), the more you’ll be likely to interview the students who care about what they’re doing. It does unfortunately often require more work from you, who will now have to develop rubrics of an open assessment or group interview process. Luckily, you have several outgoing staff members who would be happy to contribute to building another year of successful paraprofessionals in your department.

Questions or comments? Contact the author at scibettj@acp.edu.

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