[credit: University of Rochester]
It’s the time of the year: college application season. With lingering deadlines, lengthy essays, and stressed students and teachers, many seniors are anxiously working for their future college and life.
As a senior myself currently working on college apps, I finally feel all the emotions that former seniors have felt. Many students feels stress from the expectations of their parents, and living up to other people’s expectations, and it is easy to start comparing themselves to their friends and classmates.
Iris Kim talks about her feelings about college applications and the future. “This time is so stressful for me because everyone is talking about college apps and their future. Other classes are stressing me out so much and I stress out because I don’t want to procrastinate on my essays, but it is hard to find sufficient time to work on them with so many other things going on. I just want this time to be over so I can fully enjoy my senior year.”
Parents also contribute largely to this stressful time, and for many students, they feel even more stressed because of them. I think it is important for parents to try to understand their child during this time. Rather than asking about college or comparing them to their peers, it is important to support and encourage them.
[Credit: The New York Times]
As the seniors have a lot on their plate on top of balancing their current classes, there are many ways to relieve the natural stress that comes during this time. They should always make time for their hobbies, such as reading, going to fun places, drawing, and hanging out with their friends and family.
Having a balance between working and having fun is the best way to go through this time. Only focusing on work will cause students to burn out early and not show their best self in their applications in the end. They should know that college does not define their worth in any way.
There are also ways for students to enjoy completing their applications. The college essay prompts are very interesting and often lets the person discover themselves. If they use the essays to reflect on themselves and their journey, they will be able to have fun and be creative with the application. By truly defining who they are through the application, they will feel more confident with themselves in the end.
Overall, this season can be a hard time for everyone involved in this process, but it is important to have fun and enjoy the last year of high school.
Erin Song, Grade 12
Academy of the Canyons
