Weekly Reflection #2

 Senior Project | Weekly Reflection #2

It’s hard to believe we’ve already made it through the second week of Senior Project. This past week has flown by even quicker than the first, mostly, due to the switch we made halfway through last week, transitioning from Student Event Coordinators to Admissions Interns. I’d say so far, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Admissions office and have learned more than we expected we would in such a small matter of time. On Monday, we began the week off by giving a tour to an 8th grader from Aspen, Colorado named Isaac. Isaac was very curious about many different aspects of Proctor and was overflowing with questions for us. This question-answering has become my favorite part of giving tours; being able to talk and answer questions about the community while also sharing what I’ve learned and been taught has been a very reflective experience for me. I’ve enjoyed this passing-on of information to kids who have yet to begin their journey here. To go along with Isaac, we gave one other tour this week. Another focus point for our group has been understanding the learning profiles that come through Proctor Admissions. Many of the profiles Proctor sees have some sort of learning disability (often ADHD, ADD), and as Admissions workers, Alicia, Chris, Christin, all must know how to read these profiles, which include neuropsychological evaluations. Neuropsychological evaluations are tests which measure how well a person’s brain is working, how well it focuses, how well it reacts, as well as all other mental functions. These were interesting to learn a bit about and get a sense of, especially considering their importance at Proctor, a school with such a prominent Learning Skills program. Alicia gave us more insight into what weighs into Admissions acceptances, particularly, which parts of the application are most valued and important at Proctor, and which others not so much. She explained that teacher recommendations are often the truest testament to a kid’s behavior and manner in school, and in her opinion matter much more than standardized test scores, which only display how a kid was doing on one, specific day. Teacher recommendations, whether they be good or bad, describe a kid’s daily identity in the classroom, with all the ups and downs. We also went over transcripts with Alicia, how to read them, and how to scale and judge them. I’ve learned that a smaller school like Proctor allows for a more personable application process. We have the opportunity to share more of what we’ve done and learned on Wednesday night at the Express Fest, and we’re excited for that chance. We have a little more work to do, as we’re currently at 47 hours, (so need 8 more by the end of Tuesday) but we’re confident all will get done, and get done in a timely fashion.