May. It’s that time of the year where high school seniors are scrambling to their mailboxes, finding a letter or a few from the colleges that they aspire to study at the most. Tearing open the letters and fulfilling that sense of approval, or bring deflated from a harsh rejection letter. All that hard work of cramming college essays and applications into a few anxious months, all being paid off.

May is that favorite time of the year for college adviser, Mr. Lee, who is located down in the college center. The excitement of approved scholarships. The knowledge of a college that wants you to attend their campus. The impending decision of finally choosing the college you’ll be staying in for the next four years. May is the month that Mr. Lee is waiting for, the final calm after the storm.

“May is the time of the month where everything comes together. You know what your financial package is. You know what scholarships you’ve won. You know when you’re leaving for college,” said Lee.

“It’s so fun and exciting to see the passion in student’s eyes, after dealing with me for a whole seven months and dealing with the craziness that is Mr. Lee.”

As seniors, we pass by the college center every day. Whether it’s for advising on our college essays, looking for the first step towards financial aid, or making a college visit appointment. Seeing Mr. Lee every day, you’d think he’d been around forever but he’s actually younger than you think. Only attending high school seven years ago, Mr. Lee never saw college advising as a place in his life.

“So back in high school, I said I wanted to be a forensic psychologist. I loved the way criminals thought and what is it in the criminal mind that pushes them towards deviance. I applied to Texas A&M and psychology was full, so they put me in my second choice, sociology, and I decided I would eventually transfer back to psychology later,” said Lee.

“So I took my first psychology class and I hated it. It was biology and I hated biology so much. Not a fan of it. I took criminology class and I hated it too. Got an A in it, but it was boring. So I thought, what was I going to do with my life? So I realized I was really passionate at talking about Texas A&M. I love selling A&M. I love doing high school student recruitments. I had a friend in College Access, so I thought why not?”

Happiness is the key to success, and Mr. Lee is getting there. Once graduating from A&M, Lee joined an organization and continued to work for A&M for a couple years, before working at Bellaire. Being here for a total of eight weeks, the school has already left an impression on Mr. Lee to adore.

“Bellaire has a unique culture of it’s own. It’s definitely not the Bellaire you read about in the papers. It’s so laid back and you’ll find whatever you need to find at Bellaire. You’ll find students who are very driven, you’ll find students who need a little push, and there are students who are lacking a little motivation,” said Lee.

“It’s all about your approach, and I try to take the same approach towards every student. I relate to them because they don’t want to interact or talk to someone during a critical time of college applications to someone who is so stuck up.The process is already boring enough, and they need someone energetic to talk to whether it’s making a corny joke or singing a song that they know.”

Mr. Lee is the college adviser that stands for every student and always has time for those who need it. Don’t worry, you’ll have time to see him for yourself. Mr. Lee doesn’t plan on leaving for a little while. For the years that he’s still young, Mr. Lee plans to relate to high school students as much as he still can, giving them guidance with a touch of a Stevie Nicks song. Once he’s grown past the age of understanding the memes which students have passed around in the hallways, he plans on transferring to colleges, continuing his work of bringing the higher learning towards students who haven’t gotten there yet.

Since advising is a major part of his job, Mr. Lee leaves us with a quote to remember as we survive the chaos of high school,

“Learn to love the struggle. If you’re always struggling, then learn to love the struggle.”