Time-lapse #2

Written August 6th, 2018

This is a piece in the Time-lapse series. For more information on this series click here. (All pieces were written in the summer, and scheduled for a future date).

COLLEGE APPLICATIONS:

College apps stink. I haven't even delved too far into them and already feel overwhelmed. Trying to figure out what to write, with conflicting feelings of having so much to say, yet knowing you can only put a snapshot of your life in one essay. I really hope I figure out most of this process before the summer ends. I feel like getting started on each application will be the hardest part, and can only hope that once I have completed the common app essay it will feel less cumbersome.

I know I will get into a college, everyone can get into one if they want, yet it still feels scary having to wait and see. Is your safety school really a safety? Will you get into the college you want to? These and so many more questions pop up into my head. I can not wait to have all of my applications submitted.

Even with all of this crashing down, I still feel as though I haven't even looked at enough schools. All I have seen are schools on the east coast, but there so many else out there. I feel it is impossible to really see everything, and so I think that focusing down on what have seen is really important. Figuring out the things you want in your next step in life, and trying to create a situation that is prosperous to those wants. In the end, I know it will come down to me. Not whether or not I am accepted at a school, that comes down to me some, but also admissions officers and chance, but instead what I will do with my life. If there is one thing I truly believe in all of this jumbled rat race, that would be a quote I heard my mother say "It is not where you go to college, but what you do there". This quote embodies a powerful idea, that we each control our own destiny. Whatever arbitrary ranking something has, that does not mean it is either right or wrong for you.

Written October 24th, 2018.

As I write this now I know that I did live up my dream of figuring out most of my college applications before the end of summer. I started actively working on my college essays at the end of September, but even then I only finished my first essay on the 22nd of October. I do feel a lot more knowledgeable about the process. I know where I am applying and how to apply. I understand the different application types. I am not as nervous about the outcomes, almost solely because I finally know where I am going to apply. If there was one thing I still feel completely, it is the quote "It is not where you go to college, but what you do there", Wherever I end up, I hope it is the right fit for me. The type of college that allows me to explore the world, learn, fail, help, and love. No matter where I end up, if it is a place that I can do all these things, at I will be happy.