Admitted to College and Admitted to the Doghouse…I’m Just Not Surprised
Most recently in the beautiful fantasy land of Hollywood…a college admissions scandal.
Now, I want to say that I’m surprised, but that’s just not the word. Celebrities have been squeezing their way into the best of the best for the longest time. This time, though, it’s personal. This hits home. I’m a college student. And I had to work to get here.
Among the several celebrities involved in the scandal are Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman and Full House’s Lori Loughlin. Both women paid large amounts of money to bribe prestigious schools into accepting their daughters. Huffman spent $10,000 to have someone take her daughter’s SAT’s for her. As for Loughlin? She spent about half a million dollars to get her daughter onto the rowing team at the University of Southern California. This may not come as a surprise, but her daughter, Olivia Jade, has absolutely zero experience in rowing. She isn’t an athlete at all.
The most backwards thing about this issue is the fact that celebrities are already so advantaged. If we’re being honest, Olivia Jade probably would have been able to get into a decent college simply because her mother was famous. I mean, money is the least of their problems.
Celebrities are always put so high on a pedestal, as if they’re the best of the best and that they could do no wrong. People look up to them as if they’re gods and that they can do whatever it is they please. Don’t get me wrong, I love entertainment news and exploring the opportunities it has. I’m a journalism major, and those kinds of things don’t go unnoticed. However, this news story makes it personal because, believe it or not, I had to try to get here.
I had to earn good grades. Celebrity kids have money. I had to express a genuine interest and passion for what I want to pursue. Celebrity kids have money. I had to write essay after essay and invest countless hours praying that I had a chance at getting in. Celebrity kids, well, they have money.
Though this scandal does anger me and has me questioning the potential corruption of the education system, it also has me realizing that money truly isn’t everything. I can only imagine spending thousands upon thousands of dollars only to get in somewhere I don’t want to be. Olivia Jade said it herself: “I don’t really care about school.” Yeah, I had to work hard, but I love where I am. The program is incredible, I’ve made many friends, and I’m already networking with some amazing people. It was worth the hassle, time, sweat, and tears. The only crying Olivia Jade does is when she doesn’t have enough followers on social media.
It’s completely backwards, at least in my mind, that an already privileged celebrity girl would need to rely on money to get into college. It just seems so pointless and bizarre.
As for me? Yeah, I guess I’m offended. At the end of the day, though, I’m happy where I’m at and it’s interesting to see trouble in Hollywood paradise.
Olivia Jade, don’t forget to vlog about it.
