[quote]By Sushmitha Suresh
Online Writer
Graphic by Sushmitha Suresh[/quote]

Mr. Daugherty said it best at College Application Night, “It’s senior year. It probably went by faster than you thought.” Yeah, it did. As I sat next to my fellow seniors, I couldn’t help but smell the fear coming off of them. That, or it might have been body odor. It’s senior year, everyone, I’m sure you’re fully aware of deodorant.

I wasn’t really concerned in the summer. How hard is it to write an essay? Let me tell you, it’s really hard. When you’re writing about Holden Caulfield or Nick Carraway, you have someone else’s life to reference. Now you have to talk about yourself. You start to question, what’s so great about me? NOTHING. These admission offices want to hear about a drastic obstacle that I have overcome, but the closest thing I’ve had to turmoil is writing a college essay. I’m just a privileged suburban kid trying to get into a program that will accept me. So what do I write about?

Anybody remember Naviance? I sure don’t. I logged onto it for the first time since freshman year yesterday. It’s helpful, but also shows how unrealistic some of these schools are. Which brings us to our next challenge, admitting to yourself when a certain school is a reach school. You think you’ve done well throughout your high school career and then you see these requirements. These requirements that are way above your ACT score. Seeing that red-colored GPA on Naviance was a definite rude awakening, and it felt like a punch in the gut.

How does one request a transcript? Naviance, again. When does one do it? When you finish the application. When do you finish your application? Soon, but not too soon that you rush through the application, but soon enough that you don’t completely procrastinate and you’re giving time to the college and career center to send your transcript. So, when is that? Don’t look at me, I obviously have none of the answers.  

Now to find a teacher that actually likes me enough to give me a recommendation. For some, that might be a breeze, for others it’s the biggest challenge they’ve come to face.

Throughout all of the panic and the frenzy, I remember the good things of college applications. For one, I’m not alone. Not only do I have my family, but I have friends that are going through the same exact thing as me, alums who are willing to help out, and the good ol’ college and career center just a few steps away. I’m walking towards my future. I’m about to dedicate four years of my life to something I love, or just discovering myself. So no matter how scary it may be, it’s also very exciting. I’m growing up.