Letter To An Old Poet - BoyGenius

My relationship with the school became particularly difficult during the college process.

I began to question if I would have been better off at a different high school where I might have a higher GPA, where my junior year wasn’t tainted by burnout, leaving a hole in my application and an explanation in the dreaded additional info section of the Common App.

On Dec. 15th I was rejected from my early decision. And life went on.

As the condolences rolled in, I questioned why so much of the school’s culture surrounds where

By Daphne Davies

you go after graduation. A single rejection seemed to overshadow the past six years of my life and all I had accomplished, both academically and personally.

And then last week, something shifted while I was studying for a quiz in Organic Chemistry, the hardest and best course I have taken in my high school career. Working on a review problem, the mechanism of the reaction suddenly clicked and I felt a rush of pride and validation. I have the resources to learn and understand material students outside of our school typically wouldn’t encounter until college. In that very moment, the school became worth every instant of self-doubt I have experienced in my time here. As I graduate, I can confidently say that I am leaving smarter than I arrived. And that’s really all you can ask from a high school — not to ensure your acceptance to esteemed universities but to make your experience a meaningful and invaluable part of your life. Only a few days after my rejection, my best friend called me to tell me Southern Methodist University decisions had been released. So, with little hope, I checked my email. I was accepted with a merit scholarship, but it would be dismissive of my hard-work to say the school’s reputation got me here. It’s because during my time here, I discovered my interests, experienced successes and failures and most importantly learned.

The past six years of my life have been defined by being a Harvard-Westlake student both at times when this fact fed my academic pride and when it felt like an unnecessary weight on my shoulders. I wish I could graduate without acknowledging my struggles and the times when it felt like I didn’t have the school’s support, but these challenging times are part of the reason I am glad I came to the school.