Horace Mann - Winter 2012 - (Page 30)

news of the school GaininG an unDERSTanDinG of STuDEnTS THRouGH SELfunDERSTanDinG canh Oxelson addressed college guidance counselors from around the country at a conference hosted by horace mann in June 2011. present in the student’s portion of the application should be found in the letters of recommendation. Since teachers and counselors are writing based on their genuine interactions with the student, it’s very important that students be equally genuine in how they describe themselves. The counselor is the only person who has first-hand knowledge of each letter of recommendation and student essay, which means the counselor is in the most enlightened position to give advice and help the student put his or her best foot forward. being genuine allows the pieces of a student’s application to work together to paint a great picture. “in the college process, parents should never be more memorable than their child,” oxelson advised. “i can’t tell you how many stories i’ve heard from college admission officers who describe meeting a student only to have the child’s parent overtake the conversation. not only does this happen in face-toface conversations during campus visits, but in phone calls and emails to colleges as well. These parent-dominated interactions leave the impression that the child isn’t very independent. colleges are trying to admit students, not parents.” at the same time, oxelson appreciates parents’ input. “parents’ insights about their child are very useful, as are the insights of parents who have had one or 30 Horace mann magazine Winter 2012 two kids go through Horace Mann and on to college. They can tell us what worked for their families.” oxelson also welcomes input from alumni. “i’d love to hear from them—to have them retrace their steps of how they got to a college and what they got out of their college experience, what they would do differently, and what they learned that got them to where they are now. Those are valuable stories.” oxelson suggests to the students that it’s oK to take risks. “There’s a tendency for students to be conservative in their essay writing, wanting to stay on a wellworn topic. While that safe approach works in some situations, allowing one’s personality to shine through the essay is more likely to leave a lasting impression,” oxelson advised. “The more a student allows his or her personality to emerge in an essay, the less likely that essay will read like someone else’s, making the applicant more memorable. “no one is thrilled that the college process has taken over so much of the lives of our young people. However, if teachers, advisors, and administrators use a common language and philosophy in their interactions with our students, we can ease the stress while giving the student the best chance to be admitted to colleges that are an excellent fit. The more we all understand what each of us does, the better it is for our students.” With the application process a potential minefield of anxiety, what made canh oxelson choose a profession in college counseling? “That answer comes from the fact that my college experience was so meaningful, and the application process got me to a college where i felt i was able to blossom,” he explained. as an all-american swimmer in high school oxelson had “plenty of ncaa swimming scholarship offers. but i was already beginning to question some of the reasons i was swimming.” Those questions stemmed, in part, from oxelson’s unique personal history. He was born in vietnam at the end of the vietnam War, the child of an african american father and a vietnamese mother, neither of whom he ever knew. He was one of 3,000 children rescued from vietnam before the fall of Saigon in 1975 in president Gerald r. ford’s “operation babylift.” oxelson was also featured in the documentary film, “operation babylift: The lost children of vietnam” about how these children were welcomed into new homes in the U.S. canh oxelson was adopted by a family of Swedish-irish background living in california’s central Joaquin valley. close knit and loving as his adoptive parents and siblings are, oxelson is articulate about the inner conflicts he experienced growing up as a part-asian part-african american youngster within a white family in a predominantly white environment. Some of these conflicts factored into his success in swimming, oxelson once wrote. believing that excelling in athletics would help ease his way into a comfortable niche among both black and white students, oxelson did not always find that to be the case, despite the fact that he rose to the heights of competitive swimming. instead, african american students wondered why he was so involved in a sport dominated by white athletes, and white students clung to similar stereotypes about black athletes. nevertheless, swim-

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Horace Mann - Winter 2012

Horace Mann - Winter 2012
Contents
Letters
Greetings from Dr. Tom Kelly
Greetings from Melissa Parento ’90
Horace Mann School’s 125th Anniversary Observances Begin
Strategic Thinking
New Initiatives in Institutional Research and Admissions
HM's New Director of College Counseling
Timothy HO and Monica Merlo are 2011 Tina and Dave Bellet Teaching Excellence Award Winners
Langfan Oratorical Contest, 2011
Horace Mann School Graduates 178 in June, 2011
Alumni Council Corner
Bookshelf
Class Notes
Memorials
Philanthropy and You

Horace Mann - Winter 2012