Thanks a Lot, College Process. Love, Your Biggest Fan

Ah, the time of year is finally upon us. Changing leaves, cozy sweaters, and the pumpkin spice latte making its annual comeback. A time of trick-or-treating, Netflix movie binges in the comfort of your bed, and warm pajamas. The best season of the year they call it: the holiday season, filled with relaxation and fun.

Nope.

This once-sacred time of the year has been utterly destroyed, rampaged and ransacked by the dreaded college process. Darien High School seniors, including myself, face the most insurmountable task we’ve been faced with: 1) deciding where we want to go to school for the next four years and 2) actually get in, with the fun bonus step of 3) getting perfect quarter 1 grades.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m internally combusting. My priorities have completely shifted and my stress level is unprecedented. Suddenly school, easily my main priority for most of my life, seems like a side hobby in comparison to the college process.

And suddenly I’ve become the best procrastinator of all time, to the point where I think I deserve a medal. Who else can clean their entire room, learn how to do yoga, and start five new hobbies all with the backdrop of college essays to write?

And then there’s the stress. I constantly feel like I’m in the Hunger Games: I can’t take a minute to relax without feeling like I’m cheating on the ten supplemental essays I have to write. My strategy is usually to procrastinate and pretend like an assignment doesn’t exist but that really isn’t working well in this case, given the fact that no one will stop talking about college. I can’t even remember what I used to talk about before the college process. What did my family and I discuss before our conversations became recitations of the Common Application? What was hanging out with friends like when we didn’t have debates over whether an ACT score is good enough for a certain school?

But the thing is, there’s no escape in sight. Even with the dreaded November 1st early action and early decision deadline a thing of the past, we still have a long way to go. I don’t know what’s worse: the scramble to write a million essays and apply to schools or the painful time spent waiting for decisions? All I know is that I don’t think my body can physically handle writing another essay about the ~amazing programs~ that a university offers or what ~drives me~  or ~defines me~ in life. It takes me 15 minutes to pick out a movie to watch, how am I supposed to answer such existential questions? Please cut me some slack here. Sincerely, a 17-year-old girl that just wants to get into a college.

Want to read something a little more rational? Click here.