Elon Academy

Oh my beloved Elon Academy…

Let me tell you the story of how, when and why I applied to become a member of the Eta cohort of Elon Academy.

I heard about a program called Elon Academy in middle school during a time, we can say, I was not on the correct path. The program was first introduced to me and brought to my attention by my middle school guidance counselor and my brother’s godmother. It is a college access program you apply for during your freshman year of high school. The first part of the application process was a mail in application where you talk about your community, extracurricular involvement, financial status, and what you hope to accomplish. I applied and anxiously awaited a response to see if I had been granted an interview.

I had. The interview date came around and I was sitting in the library trying to look professional. I was wearing a leopard or cheetah print shirt with a black blazer on, a black pencil skirt and some black high heels–all of which belonged to my mother. There were three sections of the “interview” process. The first was a group interview. I sat around the table in the library and I looked at my competition, so to say. In my mind I did not have a chance at getting in because I was sitting with a bunch of other freshmen from my high school who were ranked higher than me GPA wise. They gave us information regarding the program, showed us how to shake hands properly, snapped a picture of us and then we split up into smaller groups.

There were two groups that did the same thing but in an inverse order– what my group did first, the other group did last. My group started off with a casual group interview led by Dr. Means and consisted of broad questions that we could all answer, like, what we hoped to do career wise. All I remember saying was that I wanted to be a Pediatrician.  I’m pretty sure I said something along the lines of “I want to help the future generations” because I use that to write everything because it is my reason for wanting to be a pediatric something. Then after 30 minutes, we switched and did what the other small group had done first.

This part of the interview consisted of two things. A short essay and a personal interview. While the majority of us wrote our short essays, one person was pulled aside and interviewed alone. If I remember correctly, the short essay prompt was to write about a moment that made us who we are and why we wanted to go to college. We responded to the prompt until we all got our own personal interview. I believe I was second or third to last because it was in alphabetical order. The personal interview was conducted by Mr.Pickett.

My name was called for the personal interview and I remember being in mid sentence. I got up from my chair and tripped on the carpet. Probably because I was wearing heels and prior to this interview I had only worn heels twice. Thank goodness Mr. Pickett did not see me trip–that would have been embarrassing. I got myself together and followed him to the far corner of the library. He asked me how I heard about the program; I talked about my god-sister, guidance counselor and older best friends. They asked about my community service and volunteering I had done prior to the interview and asked other questions I can’t quite remember. There was one comment I remember Mr. Pickett saying; It was something very close to “You have a very pretty smile. You are the only person who has smiled this much during this interview because everyone must be so nervous.” In my mind I was thinking, “I’m nervous, too.” I got through the interview and left to track practice feeling really confident.

*I wonder if they keep the notes they took on us during these interviews*

Around April of freshman year, I got pulled out of class by an assistant principal. All my friends were whispering “What did you do?” as I, myself, racked my mind for anything that could have been perceived or interpreted as bad or inappropriate misconduct. Keep in mind, I was following the assistant principle, in complete silence, on crutches, because I recently had gotten surgery on my right knee. The took me to the conference room where I saw other interviewees and our interviewers. I had butterflies in my stomach when they handed me a big yellow envelope. This was just the beginning. The beginning of the start of a new family, of becoming a better person, of learning who I was.

Here is a time line of my time through Elon Academy Summer programs.

A picture of the scholars from my high school after we got the news we were accepted!

This is all Etas from all of our school system at Orientation.

At the end of our first summer.

Leadership team for my second summer.

Etas at the end of our second summer.

Etas at the beach.

A mix of EA scholars taking a break from painting a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Etas at our last fish taco Night!

Etas at the end of our last summer…

Now I must brag about my Eta cohort. We received over 2 million in scholarships.

This is us after three summers and three years of Saturday Programs standing alongside the President of Elon University wearing t-shirts for the schools we will be attending in the Fall.

So I promised you guys that I would tell you how, when and why I applied. Just to make sure I hit all the points.

The how is my story above.

The when is my freshman year.

The why is shown in the pictures above and listed down below:

• I was attracted to the sense of family built.
• I wanted to go to college.
• I needed information as to how to make it possible for me to attend college.
• I needed information on how to get accepted to college.
• I needed guidance on how to be a successful student.

So if you were to ask me if giving up a month of my summer for three years was worth it?

Absolutely! I would do it all over again if I could. I got everything I hoped for and much much much more! If you are a freshman in the ABSS school system and Alamance County area, look into the program and apply! It will be worth it. I promise. So, I leave you with this story as I go finish my geopolitics essay I mentioned last post.

Just remember: Be strong, Stay safe and First do no harm.