The Blind Side

First, if you haven’t seen The Blind Side, shame on you. Second, if you haven’t seen The Blind Side, shame on you. Go. Now. Buy it. Don’t even rent it. You’ll want to buy it after you’ve seen it so just buy it first. Trust me. I’ve bought maybe six movies in my life. This is one of them.

I was talking about this movie last weekend in San Francisco with some admissions friends, one of whom said how much they liked it because it showed what an independent school and a deliberative admissions office can do for a student, how we have the power to alter a student’s life’s trajectory with the swoosh of our signature on an offer of admission.

To me, I had seen the movie as about what “a fine Christian woman” (as Big Mike’s mother calls Leanne) can do when she exercises and lives out her faith. How embarrassing I never saw the role of the school or the admissions office. This came home to me last week when I was interviewing assistant director candidates (between trips to/from Europe and California!) and asking them about a professional point of pride, and one said to me, “every graduation.” She went on to talk about how she liked to remember each graduate as they were when they interviewed and reflect on how the school—starting with the admissions office—has changed, shaped, and directed their life.

When your head is unreasonable, your flight delayed, the tour guide hasn’t shown up, your interview hours late (or early!), the placement director not returning your call, or your feet tired from standing behind a table nobody has approached, then just stop. Pause. Breathe deep. Think about Big Mike. And be proud.