Preparing for my freshman year of college was pretty terrifying, as there was a whole lot to do and I didn’t have much experience or knowledge on how to do them. Everything felt incredibly overwhelming, and there were times that I felt I had no idea what I was doing. Despite that, though, everything worked out with hard work and the help of the people around me. Looking back now, it wasn’t so bad, but at the time it was a huge weight on my shoulders.
I applied to a wide range of different schools, and I was scared that I wouldn’t get into the schools I wanted to, and I’d be forced to go to the schools I had as absolute backup; even worse, I wouldn’t get accepted anywhere! Those fears were obviously unfounded, but I couldn’t fight them off easily. I was worried up until the days where I got my acceptance letters, and even then my anxiety wasn’t completely gone. I was still stressed about other things, layered on top of that single worry about not being accepted.
Figuring out how to pay for college is a huge undertaking, especially for a high schooler. It’s a lot of large numbers that come out of nowhere, and just looking at them made me sick to the stomach. I still had to figure out a way to work them out, so I sat down with my mom and worked it all out. There was no way I’d be able to do it alone, and I definitely encourage everybody in a similar situation as me to take a look with somebody better at finances than you. It’ll give you a more experienced perspective and be a lot of help!
Those were the largest worries I had, but there were loads of smaller worries too. My SAT scores, transportation to school, working out my schedule, and learning to adapt to harder and more plentiful work were all things I worried about but found came naturally as time went on. All it takes is time and effort from you and the people around you to be successful in college, even if it seems scary at first. Don’t let this new chapter in your life daunt you too much, because while new is always a bit scary, college is also a wonderfully exciting time.
Keep calm, you got this!