With two guidance counselors for 1,200 students in my Kentucky public high school, I was guaranteed only one appointment each year to talk about my coursework. My counselor would try to squeeze enough guidance into that five-minute slot to last me through the year. At my sophomore-year session, Ms. Richey looked skeptically across her desk when I said I wanted to take an upper-level course. "Don't work too hard," she said. "Hang out; watch a couple of hours of TV after school." As she skimmed over my schedule, she bestowed some parting wisdom: "Remember, Jennie, high school is the best time of your life."
That's when I knew I'd better look for guidance elsewhere. So my parents and I made an appointment with Bunny Porter-Shirley, a Nashville, Tenn., college consultant. Two weeks later we were in her home. Sprawled on her sofa like a patient in a psychiatrist's office, I unloaded all my academic frustrations. Her response: "Guys, we all know Jennie's a good student, so chill out. She's going to do just fine." I liked her from that moment on. We talked about my goals -- taking challenging classes, getting into a selective college, perhaps attending law school -- and determined that my high school probably wasn't right for me. No surprise there. I ended up transferring to a Washington, D.C., boarding school, where I happily spent the next two years.
My new school was challenging, but its one notable weakness was, ironically, college counseling. Enter Ms. Porter-Shirley again. Now she urged me to explore colleges outside our region, even on the opposite coast. She suggested questions to ask of prospective schools: what's the quality of the departments I'm interested in? How do students spend their weekend nights? What does the student newspaper cover? She set up application deadlines, helped me brainstorm essay topics ("avoid 'how great I am' speeches") and read my drafts.
In the end, Ms. Porter-Shirley didn't give me much more information than I could have gleaned on my own with some research and hard work. But her professional knowledge and moral support were invaluable at a critical period in my life. Ms. Porter-Shirley made me -- and my parents -- confident that I could find the best school for me. And I did. Halfway through my Stanford education, I can say I've never regretted my decision. I can't imagine being more challenged or having a better time anywhere else . . . not even high school.
-- Jennie Berry, '01
