No matter who you are, being accepted to college is always life changing. It opens a door to a world of possibilities. It's the ticket to the next chapter of your life. It is, undeniably, a milestone.
For me, my college acceptance changed my life in more than one way.
When I was 14, I decided that I wanted to be a filmmaker. I had it in mind to go to a prestigious film school like NYU. As life in my small town high school progressed, I began to realize that my lack of training and experience in filmmaking probably meant that I couldn't go anywhere prestigious. That was okay. As long as I found a school with a GOOD program.
So, that's what I did. I had it in mind to go to a small school in Kentucky with a surprisingly good film program. By November of my senior year, I had already been accepted and was ready to confirm to them that I would be attending.
One day, I was doing some filming at a friend's house. My friend's mom watched me work and told me that she did not like the idea of me going to school in Kentucky. She spent the next few hours researching the top film schools in the country for me. I remember appreciating, but practically belittling her attempts. There was no way I was going to get into any of those schools.
As I was setting up my camera for a shot, my friend's mom ran toward me with a few sheets of paper in her hands. "CAITLIN! I found this school in North Carolina ... It's in Winston-Salem, it's one of the top film schools in the country, and you'll never guess what the mascot is ... A PICKLE!"
After learning some more about the school, I started to fill out my application, put together my portfolio, and I interviewed a couple of months later.
My interview was fabulous. Nearly perfect. I got along so well with my interviewers, and that alone made my admission seem inevitable. But when my dad asked me after my interview if I wanted to explore the campus some more, I declined. Only 80 students were going to get accepted, and my portfolio wasn't that impressive. I was falling in love with something I probably wasn't going to get.
Six days later, I found out that I had been accepted.
My college acceptance was more to me than just the surprise of a lifetime. My high school experience was fraught with moments of self-doubt and self-loathing. The fact that I had the courage to even apply to UNC School of the Arts in spite of my extremely low confidence-level is a story to tell. But my acceptance is an even greater story of a kind I never thought I would get the privilege to tell.
In high school, I was in a hole. I'm still in that hole, and I struggle every day. But UNCSA seeing enough potential in me to let me into their school lifted me up so that nobody will ever bring me down. Because of my college acceptance, my life, my perception of myself and my entire world is changed forever.
