A College Applications Reflection

Well. I’ve been counting down the months, the years, for me to finally say this: it is over.

This past week for many of us seniors was when we heard back from the last few colleges we applied to. For some, it meant joy. For others, it was seen as disappointing. For many, including myself, it is just in some weird middle ground indescribable that does not even fit within these two worlds. These past two weeks have been challenging not just academically but emotionally for a lot of people.

But, rather than diving into the other perspectives, analyzing this process as a whole (which I hope to do over the next few weeks), I wanted to share my thoughts on this whole journey I know a lot of us have been on for the past four years, and in many ways, our whole lives.

The first and most important thing I will say is that I’m grateful. To think that just two generations ago, my grandfather was walking near 30 miles to get to school in Ethiopia, to where I am sitting as someone who is going to college in the US is truly humbling. I often times would get discouraged, disheartened, disappointed, and beat myself up over not being good enough. But every time I saw that happen, I took my own time to just step back. I wanted to just give up at times, believe that I won’t be happy with how this process goes. But, the stories of my grandfather, the…