Typical Day
Ada Mission is a college counselor at a small private high school. Her pay is excellent, as are the benefits, and her summertime schedule isn't onerous at all. In fact, she gets half of the summer off, and works part-time for the other half. Why does a job that doesn't sound like much—she helps bright, hard-working kids get into college—pay so well?
Because, for six months out of the year, every year, Ada has to go through college admissions hell with approximately 100 high school seniors.
On a hot and humid September morning at 7:45AM, Ada finds herself in a conference room crowded with excitable teenagers. After passing out a packet of information to each kid, she goes to the front of the room and gives this rundown:
She is the school's college counselor. Her job is to provide advice and assistance on the college admissions process to any student who wants it. As this is a private school, she works at wants to see all of its graduates go off to the best schools possible. That means that every high school senior is scheduled for a mandatory thirty-minute meeting with Ada to discuss college options and career goals.
Ada will also be hosting breakfast meetings every Tuesday morning for any senior who wants to attend, to go over various aspects of the college, financial aid, and scholarship application processes. The schedule of topics is in the packet, along with Ada's contact information and some worksheets to get the kids started on their applications.
As Ada looks out over the room, she realizes that she's already met with many of the students present. They're the ambitious ones, waging a good-natured competition with their friends to see who can get into the most prestigious college. Ada's biggest problem with this group will be pushing them to manage their admissions expectations.
By 8:30AM, the students are off to homeroom and Ada is in her office. She has a full calendar for the day, so she quickly drinks a cup of coffee as she goes through her e-mail and phone messages. Four college recruiters have contacted her about coming to her high school to meet with students, so she pulls out her calendar and checks for open dates.
At 9:00AM, the personalized mandatory meetings begin. Ada's first appointment is with Lisa Dewey, a mild-mannered and extremely organized lacrosse player who loves mathematics. Because Lisa came to Ada as a freshman to devise a college prep strategy, they breeze through their meeting, quickly going over the schools Lisa plans to apply to and the application requirements for each.
The situation is very much the same for the other students who come in throughout the morning. These kids have their shizzle together; Ada would be more impressed by the professional way they discuss their education goals if she didn't see this every single year.
At 11:15AM, while Ada is searching through her file cabinet to find an updated catalog on Cal Tech to give to science whiz Jason Lu, the school secretary pokes her head in the door.
"Sorry to bother you, Ada," Wilma says, "but it's Mr. Painzbutt on the phone."
Ada barely manages to contain a groan, although, judging by the smirk on Jason's face, he knows exactly who Mr. Painzbutt is.
"Please take a message and tell him I'll call him back," Ada replies.
Fifteen minutes later, Jason is out the door and Ada heads to her car in the parking lot. She has an informational lunch meeting at a highly-ranked university nearby for local college counselors just like her at noon. Will Mr. Painzbutt be furious that she didn't call him back immediately? Oh, yes, but he's such a painzbutt that Ada tries to stick it to him whenever she can.
The hour-long lunch in a comfortable room at the university's faculty club goes well. Ada is already on first-name terms with the admissions officer who presides over the event, which is wonderful for her kids, because Jake pulls her aside afterwards to tell her about a new scholarship the engineering department will be offering to incoming freshman, and could she think of anyone at her school who might be a good fit?
By 1:30PM, Ada is back in her office and ready to meet with more students. This time, her appointment is with a kid she doesn't know well. She's heard that Greg Watson is a remarkably creative young man; his art has won prizes at local and state competitions. He isn't a great student, however, which is probably why he looks nervous.
Ada gets the conversation started by asking Greg if he's working on any paintings right now, and he's enthusiastic in his reply. The moment he mentions his parents, though, he gets kind of quiet.
"Dad really wants me to go into hedge fund management, like him, and he really wants me to go to the UT-Austin, also like him. He thinks my painting is just a phase," Greg says.
Ada feels a brief flare of anger toward Greg's dad, although the situation isn't unusual: Many of the parents she knows push their kids toward colleges and career paths that the kids simply don't aspire to. She doesn't let her anger show on her face, however. Instead, she does her best to ferret out what, exactly, Greg wants. What are his interests and passions? What does he want to get out of college?
By the end of their conversation, Greg is looking pleased that there's at least one person in the world who's listening to him. So, Ada suggests a strategy:
"I want you to do your research, Greg,” Ada says. "Find colleges with programs that you think will fit what you want to do with your life. Let's schedule a time to meet and go over that list next week. Once we've done that, if you'd like, I'll sit down with you and your parents. Let's hear what your dad has to say. I think we can figure out something that'll make everyone happy."
Greg leaves her office, a smile on his face. Someone else comes in. Ada is expecting a student, but it's Mr. Painzbutt.
"Why haven't you returned my call?” Mr. Painzbutt snarls.
"How do you do, Mr. Painzbutt?” Ada replies pleasantly. "Won't you please have a seat?"
Ada just cannot deal with this guy. She doesn't care if Mr. Painzbutt has donated more money to the school than anyone else; he likes to pretend she's his daughter's personal college counselor, and this drives Ada insane.
"Little Princess wants to meet with you to go over the list of colleges she's going to apply to," Mr. Painzbutt says.
"I'm meeting with Little Princess on Friday morning," Ada replies.
"That's not soon enough!" Mr. Painzbutt roars. "I want you to call her in, and we'll do the meeting right now!"
"Mr. Painzbutt, I'm already scheduled to meet with another student. In fact, my schedule is booked with student meetings until 5:00PM. If you'd really like to spend the next several hours in the office lobby, patiently waiting for me to be free, then that's fine. But I'm afraid I can't accommodate you right this moment."
Mr. Painzbutt turns various shades of red. Ada would be worried about him, except this is the seventeenth time he's barged into her office, demanding something from her, since she started working at the school as a college counselor five years ago.
"Fine," Mr. Painzbutt snaps. "I'll be here with Little Princess at five."
"I can hardly wait," Ada replies, and Mr. Painzbutt slams out of her office.
Ada spends the rest of the afternoon meeting with students, and she allows her enjoyment to wash away any frustration she might feel toward Mr. Painzbutt. She loves her job; she loves watching kids work out what's essentially the biggest decision (so far) of their lives.
However, she's getting a little tired of the rarified atmosphere of the private high school where she works. All of her students who want to go to college, go, but what about kids at the public schools around town? Ada wants to help them, too. Maybe it's time for a move.
Before Ada calls Mr. Painzbutt and Little Princess into her office at 5:00PM, she reaches into the bottom drawer of her desk and extracts a Twix bar. Every time she bites off a piece, she pretends she's gnawing on Mr. Painzbutt's head. This makes her chuckle, and she has a smile on her face when her least favorite person in the world strolls back into her office.