Ben Heller Week 7- The Next Big Step

  Looking to my left, looking to my right, I glance at my classmates, a momentary glimpse of what is to come. This one heartily speaks of their college being the greatest, “next four years!” Another, perhaps passionately, rebuts the first, “this one is the place for me! It’s the best!” Perhaps, we’ve come to idealize the process of the college application, rather than the divine search for the right place to learn for the next four years. Upon my entrance into the world of college applications, I was quickly baffled, and quickly humbled. The work piled, week after week, and I found myself descending into madness thinking about my word choice and my attributes and my deadlines. Until I came to a gratifying realization. The illusion that we tell ourselves, that our lives will be over if we aren’t accepted to a certain University, is a farce. We convince ourselves, rather, the schools and the current system we uphold convinces us that we need to strive for a specific school. If not accepted into our “dream school” then our life trajectory has been thrown off course. However, I managed to find peace in the process. If the college doesn’t accept you for everything that you are and everything that you have to offer, then they’re not the right school for you. This has helped me keep my head in a process that can otherwise be so daunting. I also found a new measure of independence given to me by my parents throughout the process. Anybody else? They’ve acknowledged that my future is my own, and therefore I can choose what I send to the schools and how many times I lament over an essay before sending it in. This new deal of independence, coupled with my peace with the process, although unfair, have helped me find the true values and aspects I look for in my home for the next four years. I hope you can try to apply this philosophy to your own thinking, and break through all the fakakta college application business that goes on in the background which is out of your control