As mentioned in my previous article, I tend to be quite the planner. I wasn't just given this “gift" to plan when I came to college. It started long before that, ironically because of college.

When I was younger, my mom use to take me to college fairs whenever they came into town. By the time I was 12 years old I knew exactly where I wanted to go to school. For the purpose of this article, we'll call it College A. College A was so prestigious, had awesome traditions, a great honors program (yes, I thought about this stuff when I was 12), and on top of all of that, had the same morals and values as my family and I. The only thing I worried about was the cost of tuition, but I figured scholarships could cover that. Well, four years and a montage of my life later, it's time to start applying to colleges; College A being the first option, of course. However, my parents always said, “You need to apply to more than one college because you never know what'll happen." Out of reluctancy and the “if- you-apply-to-one -of-your-schools-you-have-to-apply-to-one-of-my-schools"deal I made with my dad, I ended up applying to a total of six schools, two of them being my dad's picks and one of them being a total surprise, but I'll get to that later. Now, the waiting game began.

Everyday I checked my student account I had set up with College A in hope of seeing those five words, “Congratulations! You have been accepted!" Instead, my first acceptance letter was from Texas State University. It was my dad's final pick and I had literally applied two days before the deadline. My parents were excited, but I was still holding out for College A. In order to keep my mind off of checking my College A account day in and day out, I focused on scholarships and setting up scholarship accounts. A second acceptance letter rolls in from Texas A&M, a third from UT Austin. I figured, “Well if these other colleges are already sending out acceptance letters, then that must mean College A is done deciding!"

I go to check my account and I see five words, but they were the wrong five words. “We're sorry to inform you...," I was crushed. I told my mom that afternoon and wept. I told my dad that following evening and wept again, and I wept much more after that. To make matters worse, one of the “dad colleges" I applied to rejected me because I didn't send in an “optional" essay and by the time hey sent me a letter asking me to send it in, the deadline had already passed (learn from me, ALWAYS do the essay). Needless to say, I was pretty down for the next two weeks. It was already bad enough I couldn't get into College A, but this college was the easiest to get into out of all the colleges I applied to. “Maybe I wasn't as smart as I thought I was?" Self-doubt and depression began to sink in. I felt miserable.

Then, one day I get a letter from a college that's supposedly very popular, but I had never heard of. I open it and I begin reading about how they've received information on my academic achievements and were very impressed. Therefore, they wanted me to apply to their school (which was far more prestigious than College A) to see if I would be a suitable candidate to attend. I guess all of those scholarship accounts I created had finally done some good. I was a little confused, but excited! I did my research on the school and decided to apply. The school waived my application fee so I figured, I might as well! Two weeks later, I receive an acceptance letter and a scholarship from them. This "surprise school," more prestigious than College A, that I knew absolutely nothing about before, accepted me; the girl who couldn't even get into College A.

But that's when it hit me. What if this whole time I was measuring my self value on whether or not I'd be able to get into a school? What if the only reason I studied so hard for those AP exams and did extracurricular activities is because I wanted to impress College A? I realized if that were the reason behind everything I did in life, I was never living life from the beginning. I think so many high schoolers, and even college students, get so caught up in trying to do whatever they can to impress schools, universities, and even people, that we tend to forget we have the capability to impress ourselves. I would have never thought I'd get any sort of recognition from another school if I didn't get into College A, but this whole time, a school greater than College A saw potential in me. The potential that I didn't even see in myself.

I say all of this to tell you, don't doubt yourself. Don't doubt the capabilities you were given. Whether it be a college, or an actual person, if they don't see the potential you have, than they're missing out on someone outstanding! And you know what? There's no need to worry over it either because there will always be someone, or in my case, some school watching you and they will recognize and appreciate the capabilities you have. Although I am not attending "the surprise school" right now, I feel that they've impacted my life just as much as Texas State, the school I'm attending at this very moment (thanks dad!). Not because they waived my application fee, or even because they gave me a scholarship, but because they recognized and helped remind me of my potential.

This potential and drive that I have has given me so many things, including hope. Hope to inspire, hope to love, hope to change the world! But most importantly, hope to help others realize the potential and capabilities they "thought" they had never left.