When I was head-elect of Ransom Everglades and working in New Jersey, I visited campus several times during the year to meet with faculty and students so that I could get to know the school a little better before the big move. On my very first visit, I sat in the Ransom Cottage with a group of seniors. They were looking ahead to their last year at RE and full of ideas and plans about how they would spend their senior year. At one point I asked them what they thought I needed most to know about the school. The above quote was the first response that I got, and I have never forgotten it.

And this does not begin to account for all the kids who participate in athletics after school – we currently have 73 athletic teams – or the masses of students who are involved in a mind-boggling array of clubs devoted to service and community engagement.

Colleges are looking for the kinds of student we work hard to create at RE. They want students who know what they are interested in and who remain open to new experiences, and who are truly passionate about causes or interests. The ability to work with others, to collaborate on a project and see it all the way through, and to support each other throughout – good teamwork – are other sought-after characteristics. They want kids who take charge of their own learning and their own activities; they are not looking for kids who sit there and let life happen to them. They actively seek Paul Ransom's third class of individuals. That is not to suggest, however, that we should give in to what is bordering on an unhealthy obsession with getting into the “right” college. Just like colleges are looking for kids who are in charge of their own learning, they aren’t wowed by kids who present themselves as someone who has done it all or who has figured it all out. A tremendous amount of learning goes on after high school; it is our job at Ransom Everglades to set them up for success once they have left us.