Dear all you high school seniors currently swamped with AP summer homework and balancing what seems like a million deadlines for FAFSA, CSS Profile, Common App, and UC prompts, I know how you feel.
That was me just a year ago.
Like many of you, I have always been an overachiever—guilty as charged. I was the type to take the most weighted classes as possible, take SAT prep classes that spanned the whole summer, and even start thinking about essay prompts in July. But even though I felt somewhat prepared going into senior year, nothing could've completely prepared me for it.
As I started my last year of high school, the sheer amount of pressure on me was crushing. Looking back on it, I realized I hadn't grasped how college applications don't just make you focus on grades, SAT scores and extracurricular activities. They make you start to think about who you want to be and how you're going to make that future a reality. The essay questions (they're vague on purpose, trust me) help colleges get to know who exactly they'll decide to accept or reject. But they offer so much more than just that. College apps, especially the essays, are your time to reflect on your 18-ish years of life, and what you've done with them. What characterizes you beyond the volunteer work and leadership position in a club? What are you really passionate about, besides something that'll "look good on college apps?" What makes you, you?
These are the kinds of questions college apps give you the opportunity and deadline to answer by. They're a blessing and curse at the same time. You'll learn later to look back on this time in your lives with a certain fond hatred, but that comes much later.
The college application process is one giant waiting game and the teams switch sides all the time. Right now, it's you, waiting for school to start, waiting for that first lecture in the AP class you heard was super hard, or even waiting to go visit colleges over break. Soon enough it'll become the colleges that are waiting on you. They'll be waiting to hear if you want to apply early decision, waiting for you to do an interview, waiting for you to submit your essays, and waiting to see how many of you actually apply to their school. But don't worry, it's your turn to wait again after you hit that "Submit" button for the last time.
Let me tell you something though. The waiting gets hard, everyone knows that. You've also heard "It's so worth it in the end!" a million times already. But even though you hear stories about people getting accepted into Harvard or UCLA, nothing comes close to the feeling of getting into your dream school, whatever that may be. Nerve-wracked, waiting for the day they announce decisions, you'll definitely feel like everything you'll have done will boil down to just a few minutes of your entire life.
But once you open up that electronic admission decision update letter and see that you got in, it does make everything worth it. The world takes on a new hue, tinted with your warm, bursting happiness because you realize you made it. Those nights of studying, cramming information into your dead-tired mind, those nights of staying in to do homework instead of going out, the many revised essay responses you'll have written, the reason why you did all that, every struggle becomes justified. You will have done all that for a reason, and that reason is you. made. it.
But some words of advice from a college freshman? Take the time to remember that the next few months will be the last time you'll ever walk through those halls. Or attend football games decked out in spirit gear. Or cheer on your class at pep rallies. Or go on spontaneous adventures to get the unhealthiest food with your ride-or-dies. Or attend your final high school dance. Or ever have your mom take care of all the laundry for you.
Your senior year is the beginning of many lasts, so don't miss the chance to say goodbye to a lot of things. Don't miss out on the present because you're too focused on the future.
Sure, college is important. And that feeling of "I made it" will be worth everything in the end. But your memories, the ones you only have one chance to make, are important too. Keep in mind, just because you're deciding what path your life will take next year doesn't mean life has to pause this year. It's your senior year—go enjoy it.
Cheers to an unforgettable senior year,
Claire
