When the interview was concluded the representative from the Ivy League college shook Roger’s hand and said, ‘Roger, I’m not sure Wesleyan would be exactly right for you.’

Consistently, for the four years he’d attended the small California prep school, Roger’s grades had been the highest in his class. In both his Junior and Senior years he had captained the school’s football and baseball teams (which had enjoyed championship seasons under Roger’s leadership). And during his last year, in the annual all-school poll Roger was voted Most Popular and Best All Round Student, which was the first time these honors had ever been bestowed on the same person, let alone one who was Class President, Head of the School Council, Editor of the school newspaper and for the fourth year in a row Head of the Music Society.

And so it had been like a bucket of ice water in his face for Roger to hear the words of rejection from the college representative, and it had greatly shaken his confidence in advance of meeting the representative of the second of the three small colleges to which Roger had applied.

That interview took place a week later, also in the study of school’s Headmaster, and in fact the same two chairs which had been occupied by Roger and his previous questioner were the ones now occupied by Roger and the man from Amherst.

‘Why don’t we begin,’ the man said, settling back in the comfortable chair and crossing his legs, ‘by your trying to put into words for me, in a very general way, what you feel there is about Amherst that makes it the right school for you.’

Interestingly, this was the same way the Wesleyan representative had begun the conversation, and even though Roger wasn’t sure why that interview hadn’t turned out better he saw no reason that particular question should be answered differently, so he said, ‘I feel Amherst would be right for me because with its emphasis on developing the potential of the whole person, and its goal of shaping the individual to become a contributing member of the larger society, I believe the infusion of these values and ideals will make it possible for me to impress rich people when I come out.’

Oddly, the reaction of this rep was not entirely unlike that of the man who had been seated across from Roger a week before, and after blinking a couple of times he said, ‘I’m not sure I quite...Roger, could you possibly rephrase that for me.’

‘Sure,’ Roger said, moving forward on his chair, ‘if I can absorb all the knowledge from the different courses, and let’s say, after I’ve graduated, I’m at a meeting with a financier or someone, and I can just sort of let slip little snippets of things I’ve learned at Amherst - about an Impressionist painter, Socrates, whatever - I mean not in an obvious way - but this knowledge, or whatever you want to call it, will basically intimidate this guy, who probably won’t know a tenth of the stuff himself, and he’ll be so dazzled I’ll be able to separate him from his money in five seconds flat.’

Also oddly, at the end of the interview the concluding remark of the interviewer was not entirely dissimilar to the remark on the previous occasion. ‘Roger,’ he said, clasping the young man’s hand, ‘I’m not sure Amherst is where you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.’

A rising sense of panic filled Roger as he felt the dreams of his future collapsing around him, and unable to restrain himself he blurted out ‘But why not - what am I doing wrong. Headmaster Pelly said the most important thing in the interviews was just to be ourselves, and that’s what I’ve tried to be.’

The representative looked at Roger for a few seconds, then released his hand and indicated his chair. ‘Sit down again, Roger.’

The distraught student resumed his chair.

‘Do you have any more interviews coming up, Roger?’ the other man said, also seating himself again.

‘One more.’

‘I see. And will you allow me just to make a very minor little suggestion to you about your interviewing technique?’

Roger’s final in-person evaluation took place a week later, also in the Headmaster Pelly’s study, although Roger found himself in the chair the two previous interviewers had occupied before, while his questioner sat where Roger had been before. Roger hoped this reversal of seats was a good omen.

‘Roger,’ the man said, placing the tips of his fingers together in front of himself as he spoke, ‘maybe you could put into your own words why you feel Williams is the college where you belong.’

Roger paused, looking down at the carpet a moment, then up at the man seated opposite him, and said, ‘I feel, with the personal attention that a small college like Williams can give the individual, and with the tradition of challenging intellectual values the school’s known for, that knowledge on such diverse subjects as - I don’t know, the French Impressionists, Socrates, whatever it might be - will shape me into the kind of person who not only will make the world in general a better place, but hopefully a person who will enrich the individual lives of those I meet along the way.’

Half an hour later when the two stood and took each others hand, Roger braced himself for the now familiar words of rejection, but instead a smile spread across the representative's face and he said, ‘What I’ve enjoyed most about our conversation, Roger, is to have spent this time with a young man who’s totally himself.’

‘Thank you, Sir.’

And just before he let it go, Roger couldn’t be absolutely positive but he was almost sure he felt a momentary, if nearly imperceptible, tightening of the older man’s hand around his.

 

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