Since the beginning of high school, our teachers, guidance counselors, deans, and class advisors have stressed the importance of responsibility. Whether the class is at a homecoming game, a prom, or just going through their daily routine, the students are expected to be responsible and take responsibility for their actions. Reopening this scholarship application is a hypocritical statement that goes against what the students were taught at Farmingdale High School. As seniors, we had to learn how to balance the challenge of applying to colleges while fulfilling the requirements of our classes at the same time. Guidance has on multiple occasions gathered students in groups and on an individual basis to stress the importance of meeting deadlines. This is because as adults, we need to make deadlines in order to fulfill our responsibilities and take full advantage of all the opportunities' we have. For example, if a student were to miss a college admission deadline, they cannot simply call up and complain and expect for that college to now consider them for admission. They may take your application, but they for sure will not enter that student into their admissions pool. I as well as many other seniors was afraid of this, so we did all that we could to make sure our applications were in on time. This is what Guidance has taught us; Responsibility is the key to success.

     The first problem with reopening the scholarship pool is that it is not fair to the students who were responsible enough to make sure they handed their credentials in before the original due date. These are the kids who maybe stayed up later during their busy weeks or did not attend their after school activities because they wanted to make sure they had completed and perfected their scholarship packet. Meanwhile, the students who did not hand in their packets on time were able to sleep at a normal hour and attend all their extra curricular activities. They did not prioritize their responsibilities and for that reason, did not make the original deadline. This is a skill that every teacher talks about at least once during the year with his or her students. There is no reason why Guidance should extend the deadline for students who were not responsible enough to hand in the material.

     By adding extended time to the deadline, Guidance is now taking away opportunities for those students who were responsible enough to hand in their credentials on time. For example, now a scholarship could be taken away from one of the students who submitted their application before the actual deadline. It makes no sense why a student has the right to have an opportunity snatched from them because they were doing the right thing. With extending the deadline, someone who may be more applicable for that scholarship may receive it and yet, they were to irresponsible to hand in their application before the deadline. This would then reward the students that demonstrated the more responsible actions. This is unfair and unjustified. Why should a student who showed no responsibilty in handing in the requirements strip students who were responsible enough to meet a deadline away from potentially winning a scholarship ?

     I would also like to discuss the size of the applicant pool. How can Guidance say that the applicant pool is not large enough? The applications your department received were those who showed responsibility and seized the opportunity to apply for scholarships in aiding themselves for the financial burden college brings. The scholarships that are currently awarded should be awarded to the hundred students or so who were in the original pool. If there were two hundred scholarships available, they should be distributed to those in the original pool. It does not mean reopen the pool so everyone can get a scholarship.  This is another idea that is unfair. The scholarships available should be given to those who were responsible enough to hand in their applications on time. Again, by reopening the pool, students are being rewarded for not being responsible. The applicant pool size should have remained the same as the original number of students who submitted their paper work on time. The total amount of scholarships available should be divided within that group no matter how many scholarships are available.

     In Farmingdale High school, deadlines for important dates are treated like a joke. No one takes them seriously and students expect to receive the full benefits for handing something in three weeks late. I was hoping that in a situation like this, regarding money that could dramatically help in college finances, a deadline for once would be honored.  Once again, just like any other case, the original deadline was not honored.  Whether it is because too many students were complaining or there were to many parent phone calls, it should not matter. Any adult knows that when their boss gives them a deadline, they need to have what they need by that certain date. No exceptions. The same should apply to something like this. Parents should be more responsible and remind their kids of this. It does not help though when Departments extend deadlines like this because students do not learn that responsibility is everything. I hope for the future, deadlines in this school will be taken more seriously. By extending this deadline, the school has once again gone against everything administrators, guidance counselors, and teachers have taught about responsibility as well as robbing  students of potential scholarship funs that they rightfully deserve.

Thank you

Sincerely,

             Christopher Olsen

         Senior of the Class 2013

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