Senior year is both the best and worst year of high school.
It can be amazing because you’re kings and queens of the school and you get events totally in your honor. Some people, such as myself, even hold an office. However, senior year has a massive cloud looming over it that can kill all of the sunshine one can expect out of senior year.
This cloud is college and scholarship applications. Everyone talks about how great an experience college is, but nobody talks about the application process. It is absolutely the worst and I have grown to loathe every aspect of it. It is exhausting having to gather so many different recommendations for each different application, to having to type in your extracurriculars and awards over and over, and even having to write a meaningful essay for each application.
I didn’t sleep for three days trying to get my early decision applications in so I would be considered higher on the list. The worst part is when all these teenagers get together and brag about how many colleges they’ve been accepted to and think it gives them the authority to look down on you based upon your choices.
The scorn and rivalry between colleges you don’t even attend yet is absurd. This huge deal that is the overpriced higher education centers create so you can get another piece of paper is nuts. Now don’t get me wrong. I fully plan on attending one: Morehouse. It’s among my top choices but the fanfare and stresses that come with the application process really make me contemplate if it’s worth it.
Scholarship applications are just as bad basically being a smaller college application, but still asking for just as much time. Overall, the good that supposedly comes from the college experience may balance it out, but at this point only having applied it seems overdone.
Hopefully, the greatest years of my life aren’t stunted by applications piling up over my head.
