“More Wonderful Than I Could Ever Describe”: The International University Experience By ANITA BUSHELL
How exactly does one respond when your child comes home and tells you they’d like to go to college in a foreign country? For four years? Not just “Junior-year abroad”? Each year, the college office at BFS addresses student interest in universities in Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and—this year especially—the Netherlands. The Journal spoke to several parents and students about their interest in and/or experience at international schools.
Anita Bushell, Contributing Writer, Alum Parent, Former School Committee Member: Our daughter, Maya, having spent many a high school summer traveling to countries such as Ecuador, England, and Ireland, decided she wanted to apply to schools such as the University of St. Andrews; the University of Edinburgh; and Trinity College, Dublin. Although the initial shock was profound, it took all the courage I could muster to take a deep breath, put up both my arms against the tide of flooding thoughts, and respond with a calm, and controlled statement: “That’s an interesting idea. Let’s talk about that.”
college letters started arriving, it became clear that Maya —because of the European university timeline (which is different from that of the U.S.)—would not find out about U.K. and European acceptances or rejections until July. Some of her peers—those who had applied “early decision”—had known since December where they were going to attend school the following September. Talk about a gamble. When Maya did get her acceptance from Trinity, as well as the University of Edinburgh, it was time to have that conversation. And I couldn’t be happier that we did. Maya’s dream to go to Trinity was coming true—she had done all the work in making it happen and my husband and I both agreed that it was our job to let her go.
Maya Bushell, Trinity College, Dublin (’20), BFS (’16) The Journal: Can you tell me about what brought you to the decision regarding international-school applications? Having lived in New York City my whole life and having gone to school in Brooklyn for almost my entire educational career
First, a little backstory: my mother would have never entertained this conversation when I was applying to colleges. Without going into family history, it is important to note that her idea of college was that I stay as close to home as possible. It was precisely because of this kind of thinking that I held my tongue. After all, who was I to tell Maya that she couldn’t follow her international university dream? At this stage, though, it was just that: a dream. She had not yet applied, and she certainly had not gotten any acceptances. And with that, I put the whole conversation out of my mind. If there was one thing adulthood and parenting had taught me it was that there was no point torturing myself about something that had not happened yet. While senior year and the college application process were grueling, a strange reality was beginning to form, one that we could not have possibly prepared ourselves for. As the PHOTO ABOVE Maya Bushell ’16
26 Brooklyn Friends School Journal Fall 2020
