Dear senior,
We have never met, but I know you. You have drafted hundreds of essays that speak of your merit, your creativity, and your tenacity, yet most drafts are deleted before they can be pasted into a Common Application essay box. You have taken the ACT and SAT more than you would like to admit, and you still cringe at your score because you think that it will never be good enough for your dream school. You are a member in seven clubs and an officer of two, but you often ponder whether college admissions counselors will find you a “well-rounded student” or a “born leader,” like your recommendation letters boast. You stay up long after your cumbersome workload is complete because you are worried about not getting into the school you are “destined for,” about FAFSA, about leaving your boyfriend, about leaving your best friends, about senior prom not being “the best night of your life,” about packing up and leaving behind everything familiar to you. You live in a constant state of anxiety and fear. I know you so well because just a few short months ago, I was you. Having been in your shoes, I have a few things that I want you to hear.
1. You are normal.
Senior year, while exciting and surreal, is also one of the most stressful times in your life. You are engulfed in a sea of emotions, and sometimes the waves will crash into you. Whether it be tears at the final car ride home with your carpool, anxiety at the deadlines you struggle to meet, or joy as you all watch your friends accomplishing the things that you only dreamed about a few years ago-- everyone who has worn the cap and gown knows the tsunami of emotions that you are enduring right now. My best advice is to put your best bathing suit on and ride the waves with your friends while you are all still together in one place.
2. You are so much more than the admissions letters you receive.
It seems so crazy to let a yes or no decision made by one person or a small group of people who have never met you dictate who you are, but I know that you probably think that you are dumb for not getting into your dream school or a failure for being waitlisted to the college you assumed was going to be your backup plan. You were a person before you applied to college, and you will continue to be a person long after your scholastic days are over. A university’s decision does not change your identity.
3. You can still achieve your dreams.
Checking off your goals is not dependent on where you received your college diploma. It is dependent on you: your persistence, your intellect, your imagination. Run gloriously towards the opportunities that you want to have. No tiny envelope can snatch your aspirations from you.
5. The important people will support whatever decision you make.
This is your decision. While it is wise to take in other perspectives, you will be the one packing the car to embark on a new journey in a few months. Take all of the external fears out of your head. We are so anxious about what others will think that we write scripts in our heads of events that will likely never occur. LSU fans will still be your friends even though you wear crimson. No one will think that you are settling if you go to a school that has not been mentioned on Forbes or U.S. News & World Report. Sincere friends will celebrate with you, regardless of what stadium you cheer in on game days.
6. The world still turns.
When the infamous letter comes in the mail, the one that thanks you for applying but regretfully informs you that there is not a place for you in their freshman class, you will feel that your world is crumbling down. While it seems that your world has shattered, the earth still spins on its axis and life will go on in the midst of your pain. You will wake up the next day--maybe with swollen eyes-- and the day after that. One day, you will wake up in your dorm room at the college you never expected to be attending, and you will thank God that your world did not end when you thought it did because you would have never met your best friends, joined a great sorority, or attended the perfect school for you.
7. Enjoy the process.
Countless calls to FAFSA, many lauding recommendation letters, every denial and every acceptance--they teach you priceless lessons. Every time you beg for financial aid, you discover that you--your education, your future-- are worth the fight. Each recommendation letter that boasts of your achievements and commemorates your victories reminds you that, although you feel like you are drowning, you have accomplished so much. Every denial and every acceptance push you further to the person that you are becoming. Enjoy the rush.
8. Take it all in.
Sooner than you think, you will hear "Pomp and Circumstance" as you watch your best friends receive their diplomas. You will sing your alma mater with your graduating class for the final time, and then you will be off to take on the world in two hundred fifty-two different directions. Live in the moment. You have four years to worry about college, but you only have a few months left with the people who have watched you grow up into the person you are today. Just like I have been in your shoes, you will one day sooner than you think be writing to the next generation of anxious seniors. For now, just breathe and savor every final second of your senior year.
