Change. Leaving friends. The unknown. The future. The letter.

As it is time for college applications to be filled out and it feels like the weight of the world is being pushed onto you at every possible angle, remember to breathe. Know that you tried your best; you challenged yourself to take difficult courses and get involved with clubs that peek your interest. You spent endless hours developing study habits that just never seemed to be enough to get that perfect grade, but remember in the process that everything builds character.

I am only a freshman in college, so I was in your shoes last year. I directed all of my energy into completing college applications while trying to keep my grades up, my social life in place, my parents happy, and balance work with everything.

I thought my entire world was going to end when I got that one acceptance letter back.

My top choice; rejected.

I felt as if everything I had worked towards and all of the dreams I had were destroyed. I felt as if I had wasted my entire high school career, and that everything I had accomplished suddenly wasn’t good enough. Most importantly, I felt as if I let my parents down. They spent so much of their time and money providing me with the best education that they possibly could, and I felt as if I let them down, as if I didn’t deserve the opportunities they provided me with.

It might be cliché, but looking back, I wish someone told me that everything would truly be okay. I wish that someone who had been in the shoes that I was in at the end of senior year would have reached out to me to help me realize what I am about to tell you. That it isn’t the end of the world to get rejected from one school. Now, I realize that not getting into my top school was the best thing to ever happen to me.

No, I don’t think that everyone who gets rejected from their top school should just force themselves to be okay with the news right away, because I know for me that my self-esteem and self-worth were degraded. I thought that I was the biggest failure, that my entire future was now impaired. I made the mistake of putting my self-worth into the hands of an admissions officer, and they made the decision that I wasn’t worthy to attend their institution.

But that was not the case.

I am still only in my first semester of college, but I already know that this is where I belong. Yes, I could decide to transfer to my top school if I really wanted to, but I have moved on. The opportunities I have already been presented with, working hands on with clubs and organizations relating to my major, have already put me ahead of some of the upperclassman at the school I got rejected from. I have made friends that I am certain will last a lifetime. I have grown more as a person in the last few months than I ever have before because I was forced to make the most of a situation that I automatically deemed miserable.

What I am trying to say is that everything works out. It might not be until you actually move in to college and get settled that you realize it, like I did, but just know that there is more than one college in the world for you. If you go in with the right mindset, you can reach your dreams whenever you end up.

Your self-worth has nothing to do with the words on the letter that comes through your mailbox. No matter what the outcome may be, you will be okay.

Don’t focus all of your energy on college. Don’t let one decision weigh down on you. Cherish the time you have left in the walls of familiarity. Don’t take your friends for granted, because in a few short months you’ll all be on your separate ways, and before you know it, your future is the present.