Dedicated to all the high school seniors who are anticipating acceptances letters, but are afraid of rejection letters. This is the story of a girl who believed nothing would work with, but now attends a college she fell in love with.
Around this time last year, I was in your same position. At the end of November last year, I sent in my last application to the University of Washington. I had sent in 15 applications in total, which is wild to think. I have been told I was a bit ambitious when it came to applying to colleges, but I also had huge dreams that I knew I had to chase. Ever since freshman year, I knew I was meant to go away, and if that meant I had to submit 100 applications, I would have done it. I submitted to my dream schools, my back up plans, and worst case scenarios. I had the dream of becoming a editor, so I originally applied as an English major.
Out of the 15 applications I submitted, I got into 14 eventually. I got rejected from the University of Washington, which is also one of the most competitive Liberal Arts colleges in the nation. I found out of my rejection in March of this year, and by that point, I had already committed to Temple University, which is a college I have fallen in love with, but I will get more into that later.
Not many people know this, but I got wait listed by the University of Pittsburgh main campus and only got accepted in one of the branch campuses. I never really told anyone for I was embarrassed to an extent. My father is a proud alumnus of Pitt, so for a while, I thought it was my destiny to go there. I had dreams of living in Oakland in the city of Pittsburgh, a place I will always refer to as my hometown. A close friend was also planning on attending a college in the area, so we talked about getting an apartment and possibly living together. I knew the area by heart and already knew the cheers for the football game. It was basically in my blood to be a panther. I also believed people, especially those in my school and my dad, would look down on me for not getting accepted right away. I in the top 10% of my graduating class, taking as many honors and AP credit classes as possible. I was also very active in extracurricular activities. It just never made sense to me that I did not get into main campus. This led to me giving little white lies that I got accepted into Pitt, because technically I was associated with the school, but not just main campus.
Luckily, I had a very supportive father who urged me to keep trying, or to even apply as a different major (since due to the previous election, I felt a strong passion for politics). For me, it was main campus essentially or nothing, so I did not have the best mental state when thinking about college. I was in the all or nothing mind set that because I didn't get into the University of Pittsburgh, I wasn't meant for college. I thought this was all a sign for me to just go to the local community college and end up working part time somewhere. It is an extremity to think this way.
However, I felt worthless. I did not want to settle for one of the local colleges because my hometown has nothing really to offer in terms of jobs within my major. I knew I had to move far away, or at least move to Pittsburgh for a chance. I also was worried, since the colleges back home often attracted most students from my high school, I would feel like I was relieving the whole high school experience rather than progressing and fully experiencing college like I had always dreamed. I wanted new adventures, new friends, and generally a new surrounding. I came from, relatively, a small white town in Western Pennsylvania where most people are afraid of the unknown. Where as I, moving to this town and not fully growing up here, I always craved the unknown. I believed, at this point, my dreams were just dreams and not realistically possible.
Fast forward a month, I ended up getting accepted into George Mason and Michigan State, which I believed had excellent programs for political science. At this point, you also run into the problem of being an out of state student since I lived in Western Pennsylvania. I had to have a serious conversation with my parents about our finances, which also left me devastated. It then became a reality that these schools were possible for my graduate programs, but not undergraduate. I felt like I belonged nowhere as my dream school since childhood rejected me and the two colleges I loved on paper were not financially possible.
Yet, at the beginning of the year, everything changed. One night, I was having a conversation with my mother which led to another break down. Senior year was just a messy - full of angst and tears. I expressed all these emotions that I felt, and she suggested logging on to check the status of my application for Temple. Now, because I got rejected from Pitt in mid-October, as a self destructive habit, I never fully completed my application. The only reason why I did was for the fact someone from the admissions office called my house to see if I was still interested in applying and informed me of missing the open-ended questions. Always check for the open ended questions. Since my application changed from early decision to regular decision, I did not believe I had a chance at getting in.
Mothers always know best. I did end up logging online to check the status of my application, and was greeted with a lovely video with the caption, "Welcome to the class of 2021." I was shocked. Once again, Temple looked great on paper and I got so excited, I ended up at least submitting my housing deposit without fully checking out the school. At the beginning of February, my mother and I drove out to Philadelphia, because she explains she knew I was meant to go there and wanted to check out fully. Luckily, I fell in love with Temple the moment I stepped on campus. I loved that the city is so close yet there is a campus of its own. There are also so many diverse people here that I meant new people and new stories that they have to share daily. Officially, when I came to visit Temple, I committed fully.
Now, I am a proud Temple Owl with a Political Science major and a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies.
What can you take away from this story? Essentially, I learned that you may not get into your dream school or realize it's not the right fit for you, but there are schools that want you and it will work. Like mentioned, Pitt was my dream. However, when I committed to Temple, I realized I would be doing something different than my parents ever did. I did end up getting accepted into Pitt at the end of my senior year, but it no longer had that appeal I once had for the school. That was when I came to two realizations. Both of them stayed relatively close to home, and I began feeling like I was only going to be living in my dad's shadow. Going across state for college was a new experience and a story of my own. It was intimidating to think of at first, that I would be living six hours from home and would go months without seeing my parents, but that also excited. Temple offered me a world that I always imagined and glad I took the chance on.
For those seniors who are panicking, I promise things work out. Life has a crazy way of handling stuff, and sometimes we are served curve balls that can change everything. However, if you truly believe in something, it will work out for you. I mean, I did for me, and I could never imagine myself somewhere else other than in North Philadelphia. I finally feel like I belong somewhere. And I know you too will feel that same feeling once you get that acceptance letter you are awaiting on and figuring out the pathway to the next chapter of your life. Trust the process.