Finally, I’m a Senior! Isn’t that what every 17 and 18 year old says following the dreadful and holistic Junior year? In my opinion Junior year was the hardest of my high-school career. Nobody ever gave me a page by page on how to go through junior year, but I’m a senior now. Life’s easier right? School should be easier? “Applying to college will be a breeze, it’s the final countdown, one more year and I’m out of here.”

Walking into school the first day of my Senior year, head held high. I think to myself “this is our time, we are the leaders, nobody can stop us from anything.” Little did I know how much I had coming for me.
Now that I think about it, I wasn’t given a play by play for this either.

Where to begin?

It was time to start really planning my future, but how?

Texas Tech University.
The University of Arkansas.
Texas State University.

I had a somewhat idea of where I wanted to go, but what did I want to be? My considerate counselor that could sense I was almost at the point of being helpless, vocalized “most young adults at your age have no idea what they want to major in, let alone what they want to do following college.”

This statement gave me a sense of hope, but more so relief that I wasn’t the only one. Although, deep down I knew I needed to start doing some serious thinking.

I thought and I thought “what interests me?” “what fascinates me?” I didn’t want to go through college and end up doing something I disliked. I wanted to do something I loved, beyond what they pay entailed.
Financial Advisor-My family had a line of those, I must be good at it right?

Forensic Pathologist-I loved watching Forensic Files, I’m good at solving mysteries.
Psychologist-The human brain interests me, but wait; I have to gain a masters degree to become that?

After receiving good advice from multiple people I realized there were many different paths I could take, but one really stood out to me.

Finance. I thoroughly enjoyed being an advisor to people, and I had a logical sense of saving, and planning accordingly, financial wise.

Time was really starting to tick now. It’s mid-November and a good majority of people I knew had already applied, knew what they wanted to do, and where they wanted to go.

Next step: Applying.

Surprisingly, this was the easiest step. Except somehow within the mix of figuring out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, I forgot all about the college essay. To most, writing is a breeze, but I like to say that I am quite prone to getting ‘“writer’s block,” which in my case, was not a good thing considering I was so close to all the priority deadlines.

Panic started to set in, once again.

“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story.”
I was confident in knowing that I had a very unique identity that I could share with colleges that would make me stand out from other applicants within my essay. The essay took me around two weeks to complete. Although compared to anything previously, those were the longest two weeks of my life.
Time and time again, I checked my applications. I made sure everything was perfect. It was finally time.

Submit.

I felt like I was signing my life away “This is it, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I entered my first period, English I, at The Woodlands Highschool 9th Grade Campus.”

Now it’s a waiting game. I waited for what felt like forever even though most of my applications returned with an answer within 2-4 weeks.

Texas Tech University, The University of Arkansas and Texas State University: “Congratulations on your admission to the Fall of 2021!”

Following my entrance on the first day of The Woodlands Highschool as a Senior, submitting my final application on Common App had all led to this moment. The moment I dreamed of ever since I knew what a college admission entailed, had finally presented itself. The moment every Senior dreams of, getting into the University they manifested upon.

I did it!

Nothing I’ve ever experienced has been as fulfilling as a college acceptance letter with MY name written all over it. Somehow within all the confusion, and what at some points felt like I was helpless, I had successfully been admitted into every college I had dreamed of attending.

The final decision; Texas Tech University.