One major aspect of high school-particularly at RM-is looking towards the years that follow, which for some, involves a college or university. After four years on the grind, with hours of studying, essay writing and time spent building the perfect college application, many RM seniors have been deciding on a college to commit to. Although college has been a large aspect of the culture at RM for quite some time now, the discussion and hype has become a part of Instagram as well.
A new trend that has been appearing on the high school side of Instagram have been college commits pages. Not exclusive to RM, these accounts allow seniors from the designated high school to voluntarily share what college they have committed to, with their major, as well as a current and baby photo to be posted. These posts will then often be reposted and shared, by their friends or even by the Tide’s official Instagram account, @rm_tide.
These accounts have become very popular, there is already a commits account for the class of 25, with the sole post and bio “Coming soon…”. The rmcommits24 account has 106 posts and 1,041 followers, and have largely been used to spread positivity, support and excitement about college. It isn’t just students committing to top colleges that are being featured either-many of the students are proudly sharing their commitment to UMD or Montgomery College.
Some people at RM aren’t in support of these pages as they support “bragging” about college admissions. However, even IB Math teacher Patrick Wainwright admits that building support and encouraging college does have its positives. “I’d rather see that end of the spectrum rather than the other end as a teacher,” Wainwright said.
And although there might be a braggadocious element to some of these submissions, these accounts help build a sense of community and support within-and across schools. Not only has school spirit and community diminished over the years, especially from Covid, but students want and deserve to acknowledge both their own accomplishments and that of their peers. “I think it’s a pretty nice way to have a uniform way for everyone to see where everyone is going to college,” senior Joshua Sanji said.
These posts go on to be reposted across Instagram, along with positive comments for people to show support and positivity towards their friends. As these posts travel through the platform via Instagram stories and reposts, college hype is bolstered and students get to simultaneously support their peers and feel proud of their own accomplishments.
“I think it’s very exciting to see where all of the seniors are going, it is a nice way to celebrate all of their accomplishments,” junior Anya Schulz said. “I am looking forward to next year as I will get to see all my classmates commit.”
Although not every senior at RM plans to go to college, many do, and deserve to be recognized and praised for their accomplishments, and the hard work and struggle that led to them. These pages are arguably among the more positive things to be found on Instagram, and anything building community and positivity online should be protected.
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