To seniors deciding where to go to college,
So, you're a senior in high school and suddenly you're wondering where the hell time went. Instead of staying in that shocked, in-denial stage of growing older like I did, understand that the next four years are going to change your life in ways you wouldn't expect. I may only be a sophomore but I can promise you I have changed and grown more in one year of college than I have in my previous seventeen years (yes, I'm still only eighteen, what a baby!) Although the idea of you changing just a) scared you b) made you shake your head in disagreement because you don't believe YOU out of all people could ever change or c) made you shake your head in disagreement because change in general is a terrifying thought, I'm here to make that a little less nerve-wracking.
Like I mentioned, I was in the "anti-growing-up-in-denial" stage throughout my whole senior year of high school. I applied to schools in California, Michigan, New York, and ya know basically all around the dang U.S. map. I did this because I took the "college is too far away to ever come" approach. I say this in the most polite and motherly tone....DON'T freaking do that! Don't apply to colleges that you would never even think about going to just to say you did, or if you're going to apply to schools all over the map, please I beg you, go visit them and try to envision yourself there. You see, we all have this heaviness and pressure when it comes to choosing a college. Every time my mom would talk about choosing a college I had the sassy, "You expect this 5'1'' eighteen year old girl to decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life?" response down to a science. Don't kid yourself, you know your comfort zone and you decide whether your college's location is where you want to start pushing that comfort zone or whether that's the part where you want to stay safe. Let's be honest, college is going to push your comfort zone in general so you just get to decide where exactly you'll be when that happens.
I could make a long speech about how you should go to the best academic school you can get into and push yourself and be the best you can be and blah blah blah but, I would rather explain to you that you're in control of where you go, your success there, your friends, your morals,etc. Those are all up to you. These next four years are YOUR experience -- not anyone else's. Please understand that it is okay to not be sure if you're ready and it is even okay to not be sure of your experience the minute you start to live it.
Scratch the next four years, let's focus on year one. Your first year of college will build you up so high you will wonder how you ever stepped foot in a high school, however, not to be a Debbie Downer, but it will also test you emotionally, mentally and physically. You're fully capable of getting through anything... I'm sure you've been told that multiple times but I hope you understand that it is still okay to be unsure or to decide the college you end up choosing isn't the one for you. If you go into your college experience with the pressure of thinking that you're stuck, you will feel stuck. If you go into college with the attitude that you're just going to try it and see how it goes, I guarantee you'll fall in love with it.
Keep your head up and do what's best for you.
Sincerely,
A once very confused senior in high school
