College Advice from Princeton's NasSoul—a capella group
We had the privilege of hosting Old NasSoul, a Princeton University a capella group, to our All-School Assembly this week. Welcomed by Mr. Chambers and introduced by our own Cor ad Chord group leader Aster, they sang us into a state of love and inspiration! Many of their songs were about love, and their set culminated in a song of gratitude—in which they seemed to be thanking Newman, and other schools they had visited, for providing the venue through which to share their inspiring R&B and Soul repertoire. As Newman students clapped along, we were also thanking them!
We thank Old NasSoul for both their performance and for spending an hour or so afterwards with a small group of self-selected students. The topic of discussion was mostly about the college application process and life in college! In fact, the Old NasSoul group members expressed that their main raison d’etre for these tours is to help demystify college for high school kids.
One of the main themes that emerged regarding the college application process is to be authentic—to design your high school experience from a place of genuine interest, not as a means to get into a particular type of university. If you follow your heart, you will find success. This Cor ad Cor related thread was also woven into these students’ wise narratives about how to approach college life once there. While most agree that in high school, everyone is trying to do everything, college is a time for prioritizing, for gently closing some doors while opening others wider or even taking time to discover new ones. In fact, more than half of the singers had not done any singing in high school (to be fair, most had been involved in other musical pursuits at some point before college). There was a consensus among these visiting students that college is a joyful time for new freedoms—that while in high school, one’s day is often programmed from 7 am–7 pm, in college, there are many more pockets within a day to to set one’s own agenda and to reflect on one’s path ahead.
Newman provides opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to pursue serious studies in a welcoming and supportive environment where self and community are paramount.
