This year I'm going to be a rising senior. That means first semester is going to be one of the most difficult things I'll have to get through compared to the rest of my first semesters because what I do first semester will mold the rest of my life. I'll be making decisions and doing things that will shape the path for the rest of my life. I'll have to start and complete my college applications and make decisions that I've never had to do before.

Let's be honest- the pressure is unreal and all I want to do is skip to the second semester of senior year where majority of the stress and tension will be lifted off my shoulders and the burning question that everyone develops starting from an early age, "Which college am I going to be going to?" will finally have a bold answer. It'll be a time where people will stop asking you, "Which college do you want to go?" and start congratulating you by asking you, "Which college are you going to?" It's extremely nerve wracking to think that a 500 word essay is going to play a major role in deciding your life for the next four years.

This is going to be an extremely stressful time of year. But, if you're also a rising senior, just remember that you're not in this crazy ride alone. You have your fellow seniors who are facing the same level of pressure as you, your teachers who will help you with recommendation letters and editing your college essays, and of course, your family who's also going to be supporting you throughout your college applications fiasco.

Unfortunately, there's no way to travel through time and skip the hard parts that we would very much choose to avoid within a blink of an eye. The only way to get through this is going to be to focus on working hard and thinking about the end result because once second semester hits, you can finally let loose and spend your last semester of high school the right, stress-free way. There's going to be a completely different kind of atmosphere where you'll have thoughts like, "When is the housing application due?" instead of, "What college am I going to get into?" You just have to have a positive attitude and attack the craziness of first semester head first and know that everything happens for a reason.

There's always going to be many ups and downs throughout the journey but knowing that everything happens for a reason is important. Not everything you want to happen throughout may not happen. Sometimes what might happen is that you don't get into your dream college so you're obligated to go to another school. But maybe it happened like that because you had more potential somewhere else so fate took its role and changed things. Everything happens for the best and adjusting to change is a part of life.

Sooner or later, you're going to be looking back at first semester, and it'll be remembered as the time you took a huge leap in life to shaping the rest of your life into something more.