Summer is coming to a close, which means days of colder winds and warm sweaters are approaching. Slowly but surely, deadlines for college applications are approaching as well.
College has been a distant thought in my mind for years, and it’s almost surreal that it’s finally so close. When I was a freshman, I thought of college so differently from how I think about it now. Back then college was far-off, intangible, and other-worldly. It was like imagining another life. I knew absolutely nothing about the application process, and I was positive I wanted to go to a big school out of state. Needless to say, I was very naïve.
In sophomore year, I started thinking more seriously about what I wanted to do in college or as a career. This is where college started to feel a little more real and overwhelming. How can someone at fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen know what they want to do as a career? Most of my thoughts about college in my freshman and sophomore years were completely fabricated by stereotypes I had picked up from movies or books.
In junior year, it was clear that college was coming, like it or not. I wasn’t excited about it anymore because it felt so daunting. The facts started to reveal themselves, and they were not what I expected. Student loans? Moving away from my family? The possibility of picking the wrong college entirely? It was way too much. I’ve always seen the end of high school as the end of childhood. In junior year, I realized I wasn’t ready for the end whatsoever.
In senior year, I’m constantly toeing the line between excited and terrified. I’ve realized that a giant out-of-state school definitely isn’t for me, and that’s fine. In fact—no offense to freshman Grace—most of the things I thought I knew about college then were very, very wrong. Applying to college isn’t nearly as scary as I thought it’d be, mostly because everyone around me is doing the same thing. All of my friends are equally as confused, anxious, and excited.
“Applying to college has been both a terrifying and exhilarating experience. […] I feel like I’m in a constant state of being behind everyone else. I see people who have already started their essays and it feels unmotivating. Although applying can be a grueling process, it’s also invigorating to imagine a new stage in my life,” fellow senior Kieran Bennett says.
I think the number one thing I’ve learned about applying to college is everyone has their own personal path. Some will only thrive by moving away and starting fresh on a large campus, others will only thrive on a smaller campus close to home. Everyone’s choices are so nuanced and personal.
I was so clueless about college when I started high school, but there’s one thing I knew then that I haven’t changed my thoughts on. I love story-telling. I love writing, art, and literature. These things have defined my past and I’ve always known they’ll define my future. Whether I major in English or Journalism or something else entirely, I know I’m on the right path if I’m doing the things I’ve always loved.
