Pursuing a liberal arts education

Grace Richardson, who is studying at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form, reflects on her summer school experience at MIT.

Nearly four years ago, I attended a week long coding summer school in which I chatted casually with Harry Rickards, a programme participant. He was weeks away from enrolling at MIT and, as a normal Year 8-student who had only dreamed of MIT, I was in awe.

I assumed Harry was a billionaire and must have invented a rocket or something that would save humanity, to be accepted into such an amazing US institution. But although he is a seriously awesome coder and probably could create a rocket, he’s not a billionaire! He told me about the Sutton Trust, and how he had been accepted onto the US programme.

He told me the programme opened his eyes to the possibility of studying at a US college and the door to MIT! So, I started to research the US study route and realised just how much it might work for me too. I love all my extracurricular activities, and I really cannot decide on just one thing to do with my life; the US holistic approach and liberal arts education suits me well.

So as the Sutton Trust deadline approached, I grabbed the chance to apply. I expressed myself in the application video, showing my dance, film making, and coding skills – all the things I love to do – and to my amazement and utter joy I was accepted!

Before I started the programme, I did not anticipate the care and attention given to every single one of us from the incredible team. Every question, however silly we might think it was, or difficult, was answered in great detail, and with kindness and thought. Every doubt and fear was allayed and talked through.

I also did not expect the freedom we were given: no-one is forced to take the path of US study; it is as much a self-discovery of what we want for our future as it is an admissions process. I also did not anticipate the bonds we would make with the cohort and team leaders. The team leaders had the experience needed to ensure that we were on track and could answer any questions.

In each residential, we were placed in a group of nine, with one previous cohort member as a team leader. We became a family for the days we spent together.

The US trip was honestly the most amazing week of my life, and I am even more excited and committed to getting that golden ticket to a US College education. It’s hard to pick my favourite session from the trip, as every session was so motivating, educational and fun! However, the activity and lecture at the Koch Centre for Cancer Research was the most inspiring, giving us a taste of MIT academia and just what we could be a part of.

We performed a research activity and then had time to ask the graduates questions. We asked, not only about their life at MIT, but also about their work. As they explained the complexity of their research, they treated us as peers, asking us what we thought. They were interested in our ideas, showing how important good communication and collaboration is at MIT. This experience allowed us to see beyond the website, and learn more deeply about topics foreign to many of us. It was two hours of MIT heaven.

My most memorable moment was definitely stepping out of the lift on the 36^th floor of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch building for a reception and dinner. The view of Boston was breathtaking and I was rather overwhelmed. The golden lift (or elevators as they call them) swished us 36 floors in milliseconds – that was a moment no-one could believe was real. To think that a few days before I was sitting in my bedroom worrying about leaving my mum for my first trip without her, frantically revising for the ACT (American College Test), and figuring what to pack! In that moment, the American dream became a possibility.

Now I am back in my bedroom, and I have reflected on just how much the trip has helped me in my US university endeavours.

The vast and varied campus tours gave us a great insider look. Once we stepped foot on campus soil, taken in the rural or urban setting (we took so many photos), smelled and tasted the delicious cafeteria food (way better than my school) and felt inspired by the tour guides who shared their experiences, we started to truly understand what it might be like to go to college in the US.

We repeated this process at MIT, Wellesley, Dartmouth, Smith, Harvard and Bates. Only after visiting each campus did we start to understand the true differences between them. We now must reflect on which campus felt right, gave us warmth in our hearts, calmed us, excited us, and which admissions talk made us stop in our tracks as we saw endless possibilities, and on which smiley passerby inspired us to think: that could be me!

We will always have the memories of the US week. We will remember the support of Jamie, Jillian, Rosie and Lavishka and the rest of the team, the precious friendships and the opportunity to hear from and work with astounding professionals such as Chris Ajemian (Cates Tutoring), Erin Baumgartner (MIT), Vince Murphy (U.S. Embassy) Meghan McHale Dangremond (Tufts Admissions), Peter Pashigian and Timothy Cao (Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and so many more!

Using these experiences, and armed with information and advice, we are ready for the next step: filling out our application forms!