- I pushed my daughter to set her sites high and apply to a school that was out of her comfort zone.
- She was accepted to Tulane, but the financial aid package offered was smaller than we had expected.
- Telling her that she couldn’t go to the dream school that I pushed her to apply to broke my heart.
I sat anxiously across the table from my 17-year-old daughter, iPhone camera unsteadily in hand, leg shaking, ready to film as she opened the email on her laptop. At the time, I was just as nervous as she was, if not more. We spent more than three years working hard for this, with months spent essay-writing, and weeks of college visits all culminating in this moment. One quick click and then — just like the TikTok I’d seen videos — she jumped out of her chair and screams of excitement and happy dances ensued. She was accepted into Tulane University, her dream school. At the time, I had no…