From Creative Humanitarian to Inspirational Therapist
Introduction
Mariah* attended a small private elementary school where she enjoyed a curriculum that was rich in communication, community, and creative teamwork. Mariah left her private elementary school with useful leadership skills and inspiration from the artistic curriculum, however she did not have experience taking tests or doing multi-step math problems. Due to Mariah’s lack of experience in taking tests, she developed a bit of test anxiety and was not able to perform at the same level as her peers at her new public middle school. In fact, Mariah was not getting good grades in some of her classes despite her inspiration and determination. Mariah did not give up, and she started working with a tutor who was able to her bring her grades up to mostly A’s and B’s. Later on, because of the diverse student body and creative course offerings such as guitar-making, yoga PE, and jewelry-making, Mariah chose to attend her local public high school instead of any of the private schools in her area. She enjoyed designing sets and costumes for her school’s theater productions, and Mariah made friends in the Human Rights club at her school. Mariah enjoyed going to school every day, and she tended to thrive in any situation requiring creative problem solving! However, because of missing class due to illness and her previous struggles with foundational math, Mariah had to take Pre-Calculus three times. The third time, she took an online format for the course, and she did just fine, finishing with a high B. Mariah had very little idea what she wanted to study in college, but she knew that she wanted to change the world with art.
*(name has been changed for confidentiality purposes)
Methodology
First, we assessed what Mariah liked about the different classes that inspired her the most at school. Overall, her artistic tendencies and her commitment to service work stood out. It was then that Mariah discovered Art Therapy and Art History as possible areas of study. Although it is not a very common major to find at many schools, Art Therapy really excited Mariah more than any other major we considered. Furthermore, Mariah was drawn to the fine arts communities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Mariah’s test anxiety made it difficult for her to take the SAT or ACT. This was not an issue, though, because many of the liberal arts schools that interested Mariah were test-score optional. However, Mariah was stressed and concerned that her slightly-less-than-average GPA would affect her college admissions chances.
Solution
After exploring liberal arts colleges with arts programs that did not require submitting test scores, Mariah was able to narrow her list of possible schools to 12 options that were not only test-score optional, but also fit both her slightly-below-average GPA and program interests. I encouraged Mariah to use her essay questions on her applications as opportunities to explain her educational background and her ability to overcome the curriculum obstacles she faced along her academic journey.
Results
After applying to each of her chosen 12 schools, Mariah gained admission to almost two-thirds of her choices. She was also waitlisted at her #1 top choice school. She wasn’t sure what do. Wait around to get off the waitlist at her #1 top choice? Or accept an offer at one of her many options where she was granted immediate admission? Mariah’s #1 choice school informed her that there would be space available for her to begin courses in the spring. Mariah was thrilled to hear this because this was the school with the most attractive Art Therapy program. Ultimately, Mariah decided to accept the delayed admission at her #1 choice school, a small liberal arts school in Boston. She couldn’t have been happier, and in the meantime, she enrolled in transferrable courses at her local community college for the fall. As soon as the fall semester was over, Mariah headed to Boston to continue her academic journey in the arts.
