How does one avoid having one’s dreams dislodged by someone else’s lower expectations?
Early in her senior year at Whitney Young High School, Mrs. Obama went for an obligatory first appointment with the school college counselor. Michelle Obama was treasurer of the senior class. She had earned a spot in the National Honor Society. She was on track to graduate in the top 10 percent of her class. [1]
Michelle, a high-achieving, motivated, relentless student, had her eyes on Princeton, the Ivy League university her brother currently attended.
Her guidance counselor, however gave a potentially dream shattering feedback to her, “I’m not sure that you’re Princeton material.”
How did Michelle Obama handle hearing that statement?
After hearing those few words, Michelle remembers tuning out the remainder of her college counseling appointment. Luckily for her, she had her family support and the self awareness to recognize that someone else’s view of your doesn’t define your reality.
Michelle changed her application strategy, sought a recommendation letter from her assistant principal instead. Wrote one killer admission essay and got in.
‘I wasn’t going to let one person’s opinion dislodge everything I knew about myself,’ she recalls.
[2] https://news.dasa.ncsu.edu/im-not-sure-if-youre-princeton-material/
