by Sabrina Redlingshafer
“So, where are you thinking for college?” asks every person once they find out I’m a junior in high school.
“Oh, I’m thinking about it all right. I’m thinking I’ll go. Check back with me in a year and maybe I’ll have my decision,” is what I want to respond to the inevitable question.
Yes, my fellow juniors, we’re finally here. Upperclassmen tried to warn us that our past five semesters would fly by, and we’re finally starting to realize it.
Now is the time to start thinking about the answer to that dreaded college question. In order to come to an answer, we must undergo a process. Yes, I am talking about the college process.
The process can be frightening and eye-opening. For some of us, it is the first time in our lives we have to make a big, adult decision.
Heck, I’m already worried about whether I should take the ACT or SAT, where to find a tutor for whichever test I decide, which prep course I should take, which cute, yet sophisticated picture of myself to submit online for test registration, and most of all: where in the world I want to attend college.
It’s easy to let the stress of standardized testing, maintaining good grades, and constant college researching consume you. (I am predicting a Naviance addiction in my future.)
But don’t freak out. I’m here to tell you to take a chill pill as you jump on this roller coaster ride some call the college process. Don’t lose yourself in year ahead. Don’t let the stress turn you into just another applicant.
Although it may be very deep within us now, the process challenges us to reflect on who we are, what we can contribute and what we want to move toward in our lives.
We each have to ask ourselves what sets us apart from the thousands of other applicants. Beyond academics, there is a unique kind of wisdom, talent and set of experiences we’ve gained throughout high school that no standardized test could show.
We are more than a manila file folder in some college admission office. We are not defined by our ACT or SAT scores. We are not our GPAs. We, as individuals, are far more than what numbers can indicate.
Rather than feeling scared, angry and overwhelmed by all the information and requirements, I encourage you to be able to step back and appreciate the process. Take it on with the support of our wonderful school counselors, your parents and the rest of your sisters in the junior class.
Go into this next year with an open mind and be confident that you will get through this. You will survive. You can find yourself in the midst of all the stress.
Yes, my fellow juniors, we can do this.
Kiley • Feb 13, 2014 at 8:10 pm
this was all a lie