The Perils of Higher Education

 

By HjØrdis Gulset

(This writer has been given an alias to protect his/her identity from the wandering eyes of college admissions officers.)

Fall has arrived, and while that is welcome news to many schoolchildren, it elicits grimaces from many high school seniors across the nation. Why? Two words…

COLLEGE APPLICATIONS

This fall represents a joyous, heart-wrenching, soul-searching, exciting, and anxiety-ridden time (all at once) in the lives of high school seniors, such as myself. It poses a difficult situation--on the one hand, I would like to be able to relax and enjoy my last year at home before I plunge headfirst into life on my own. My last tennis season, my marching band season, my last … you get the point. However, it’s somewhat difficult to always be FULLY PRESENT when I’m also trying to complete a plethora of college applications and essays that essentially ask me,

"WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?"

*cue booming, dramatic music*

Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic.

I remember last year, when my friends across the country were going through this exact same process, and I laughed from the safe, cushy distance that is junior year. Senior year would come eventually, but man, that was a whole year away. But guess what? Senior year is here, and I too have fallen victim to the late nights staring at blank Word documents, praying for inspiration from the college essay gods. I wish I knew how many times I’ve changed my essay topic. I will never get back the hours I’ve spent comparing almost identical colleges in some vain attempt to cut down the 4730573597109374089574 colleges on my list that are very far away and that I can only hope are all they’re cracked up to be. 

And then, the worst part of this whole process (at least for me) is the ultimate what-if of the college admissions process:

WHAT IF I DON'T GET ACCEPTED ANYWHERE?????

Also, a little dramatic.

I’m a person who generally likes to plan, so not knowing where I’m going to be less than a year from now is somewhat….. difficult, to put it in a nice way (when really it’s pretty scary, honestly.) I keep telling myself “HjØrdis (not my real name), you’ll be happy no matter where you end up. You just have to make the best of what happens, whatever happens.” Of course, this calm, rational voice is occasionally drowned out by the little part of my brain that tends to worry a little (haha) too much. (Yes, I’m aware the “voices” thing makes me sound somewhat schizophrenic.)

Anyway, this fall is going to be about staying balanced and about not letting my life become completely overwhelmed by the college process. Who knows, if I don’t, maybe I will end up in a padded room by the end of this semester after all.