13 Appian Way...

...It rolls off the tongue doesn't it?  It sounds so nice when you say it, "13 Appian Way."  Going into the 2014/15 school year at RJ Lee, I knew that I wanted to apply to grad school for school leadership.  Fast forward to November and I was standing at the entrance of the Harvard Graduate School of Education anxious, scared, and wondering how I got here...more specifically, wondering why I flew four hours to Massachusetts to look at a school that was probably (ok, definitely) out of my league.  I decided to attend the Open House looking to learn more about HGSE and its Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, a three-year, fully funded invitation to learn how to impact the world.  I figured that if I'm going to apply to graduate school, why not shoot for the moon and apply to a program that only admits 25 students each year and has like a .02% acceptance rate...at one of the most prestigious universities in the nation?  Makes perfect sense.

Honestly, and in full disclosure, I really didn't think I had a chance of getting in, and when I met all of the potential candidates at the Open House, some who had started their own schools, former principals, directors, school leaders, etc., etc., etc., I knew I probably didn't stand a chance.  But I was ok with that because I knew that even in the face of what I would call extreme adversity, I knew that I would apply anyway because you never know, right?

*On a sidenote, I took this picture in from of Gutman Library after the HGSE Open House.  On previous trips to Boston, I had bought some college shirts for our College Shirt Day, but I didn't buy anything Harvard on this trip....instead telling Ash that I would buy something new when I got in.  

I should have given the "Application Process" a title of its own, because calling it extensive and thorough just doesn't give the process enough credit.  Applying meant having to take the GRE, and after all I went through...prep classes, a giant book of math/writing/reading, and nightmares about standardized testing, I wasn't sure if I was up to this.  Want to understand the stress a child goes through having to take a state standardized test?  Go sign up for the GRE and you'll understand why your kid can't sleep at night and their stress level is through the roof.  Even though studying for and taking the GRE took up a bunch of my spare time, I knew I had to focus even more on my essays.

Oh the essays...explain to Harvard in 2000 words why they should pick you and not the other (I'm guessing here) thousand applicants.  But honestly, and I'm going to toot my own horn here...I felt I wrote a pretty damn good essay.  If someone really wanted to know who I was as a person, an educator, and a future school leader, this paper accomplished that.  I wrote it in 5 days, over Thanksgiving break, sitting in a Starbucks typing bits and pieces of things that I wanted to say on Stickies and somehow, thankfully, all of them eventually came together into a coherent piece of writing that I got to revise for the next 3 weeks.

I submitted my application on December 14, and when I hit the submit button, I felt a sense of relief because I felt that I put everything I had into that application.  Even if I didn't get in I could at least say I had the stones to apply to Harvard.

I was very hush hush about applying to Harvard at first, but when I actually did start to tell people (and word travels fast at RJ Lee) I wasn't worrying about getting in as much as I worried about what I would tell people if I didn't.

It was February, and a grad school blog I followed (this blog stressed me out every time I read it) said that Ed.L.D applicants who made it to the second phase (interviews) have already been notified.  Disappointed is probably the best way I can put it as I came to the realization that I didn't get in to Ed.L.D.

So no Ed.L.D., but my saving grace was that I still had a chance to get in...a small one, but a chance.  If my application was turned down for Ed.L.D., I had requested that I be considered for the Ed.M. School Leadership Program.  Yeah, I would have to pay for this program, and probably sell an organ, first child, or both, but be in a program that would change my life.

The Friday of Spring Break is always crazy at school.  Kids and teachers both ready for a week of vacation.  In 8 hours, I was heading to Colorado with my wife for some much needed time off.  The day was normal until I noticed I had an email from Harvard regarding my admissions.  I knew this email was coming because of that damn blog I read and people had posted that they had already received their Harvard admissions.  Ironically, people only seemed to post when they got in...go figure.  The email said I needed to log in to see my decision, but I didn't log in.  I couldn't.  I wasn't prepared to handle the disappointment of finding out I didn't get in.  Not during the school day, let alone right before my Spring Break started...

We were driving north on I-35, stuck in gridlock traffic when Ashlyn screamed and said the Harvard decisions were in.  She also kept up with the same grad school blog that gave me heart palpitations. She couldn't believe I hadn't looked yet knowing I already knew about the email, but she looked for me as I was trying to drive and read aloud...

Dear Nicholas,

Congratulations...

Conratulations?  Are you f-ing kidding me?  "I'm sorry you didn't get in," letters from Harvard don't start with congratulations.  The next 15 minutes in the car consisted of me screaming and yelling with excitement like a ten-year old at Disney World for the first time in their lives (which I can only speculate about because I've never been to Disney World but I'm sure it's a good feeling).

I did it.  I got in to the Harvard Graduate School of Education...at 13 Appian Way.