The Mistake that Became a Godsend

Choosing a college

Margie Hord de Mendez
5 min readAug 31, 2023
Photo by sean Kong on Unsplash

I blew it. I was a New England boarding school senior, just 16, and everyone was applying to several colleges. I only applied to one, Middlebury College, because it was renowned for languages and I thought I could study a Spanish major. During my interview there, they asked me a question that floored me: “Do you like skiing?” What? No way, I’d never skied in my life. Of course, they thought I might be one of those kids whose main interest was the ski slopes of Vermont.

Great, so they knew I was serious about language and not ski fun. Of course I’d be accepted! Nope. Months later, I tore open “the letter” only to learn that the answer was no.

Shock. Confusion. All of a sudden, I realized I was so confident that I hadn’t applied to any other schools, and it was too late to be considered elsewhere. Surrounded by preppies who were often getting into more than one college, even Ivy League, I was adrift. What next?

Looking back, I can hardly regret my mistake. I was younger than others, and the extra time gave me perspective and time to grow up.

Don’t we all find that what seems to be a mistake can end up being quite the opposite?

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Margie Hord de Mendez
Margie Hord de Mendez

Written by Margie Hord de Mendez

Canadian-Mexican linguist and translator, Margie loves to write about cross-cultural living, faith, family, aging gracefully… and more!