Around this time of the year, a lot of high school seniors are probably working on finishing or still stressing about the college application process. I was one of those people who was in the boat of stressing about my writing supplements, standardized test, and how my grades for the semester would impact my offers. Nothing about the college process seems enjoyable being that it seems that your entire life including the “best four years of your life” and afterwards relied on the school you go to. Being the first in my family to apply to colleges, I didn’t even know what I truly wanted to do or what school I wanted to attend at this point of time my senior year. All I knew was that I needed to stay on track academically and in terms of my applications and leave the rest up to destiny to decide. I really utilized my breaks to get ahead on applications by crunching out supplements on google docs and getting documents organized. It helped that my college counselor reviewed my essays and would keep track of my submissions, but for those who may not have a good relationship with their counselor it wouldn’t hurt to have peers or even alumni in college review your essays or talk about college choices. A few weeks ago, a student from my high school and I were talking about writing supplement questions and I realized that something I should have done more of when I was in high school was talk to students in the colleges I was applying to. It would have been extremely beneficial to ask them about how they answered tricky questions and is something I regret being that I stubbornly tackled the college process mostly by myself which caused more stress and worry on my part.
While it might not seem that way now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and after receiving offers you’ll look back at the college process as what it truly is: something that is tedious and causes stress but was manageable so long as you stay on target to meet your deadlines. For some people that might mean setting up reminders or locking themselves in their room for an hour with their phone off and Microsoft Word, but it’s all about finding the groove that got you to complete work in high school and kicking it into overdrive. The time management skills gathered to get through the application process will serve you well when you get to college and have to juggle clubs, classes, and work. As a junior, I try my best to do so myself and still face that challenge. The way I view things is that I may not ever be perfect being that no one in life ever is, but if I strive for perfection when it comes to my school work and managing my involvements each day then I’m doing okay. You might not get everything done during the break or may still have a lot of worries, but for anyone reading this if you strive to excel and put in the effort then success will come if not now then later on in life.