Rockville High School Senior Diary: The College Experience

The official college planning season has begun. With countless trips and tours, to meeting many new faces that you could potentially see for the next four years in your life, it is overwhelming and stressful for those who are planning to go to a four year college.

Like myself, I had my heart set on various different colleges throughout the years. I thought that California was where I was supposed to go, and then I thought New York was the city for me. Now, I’ve moved my sights even farther north to Boston which is pretty much counter-intuitive for me seeing as though I despise the cold weather.

If there was one piece of advice that I could give to every potential college student, it is to go and visit colleges. They all look nice on paper, or, in many cases, computer screens, but until you go and visit the campus and get a feel of how things work, you will never truly know if it is the college for you.

Colleges are very persistent and want you to come tour their campus. They will send hundreds of emails a year. I am still getting some, but they are dwindling down quite a bit now thankfully.

I liked the colleges that were not spamming me with four emails a day. I don’t even remember getting emails or letters from the college I committed to. I found them on my own after my parents told me that I had to pick at least ten schools to apply to.

I simply typed in ‘best colleges for journalism’ and up at the top was Emerson College, where I will be headed next year. I didn’t even plan on liking any of the colleges I found because I didn’t even want to be looking at other ones.

At the time, I thought they were just being annoying. I had already thought that I knew where I wanted to go, but I looked anyway. Who knew parents could be right about something.

I can’t even count how many brochures I got in the mail from colleges too. And I can’t even count how many of them I threw away. I mean, recycled.

I did do my fair share of college tours too. I was probably in the best shape of my life during the summer because of all of that walking. Some campuses were big, some were small, but all included a lot of walking and standing around, listening to the information that the tour guides were presenting.

That is probably the only fun part of the college search. There is so much more that goes into the process that we do not think about, but your dream college also has to include your major, and of course, the dreaded price tag. It is important to look into what kind of atmosphere they provide, as well as their acceptance rate and what qualifications that you need to meet.

I consider myself a big dreamer. And that definitely showed with some of my college choices. In the end, I found a college where I could fit in academically and socially.

It has been about three months since I found out that I was accepted into my top choice school for, you guessed it, journalism.

I received an email saying that my application statues had been updated. I knew it was the day that I was supposed to hear my admissions decision and I sat, staring at the email, unable to open it. I did not want to be disappointed, but I had to know.

I finally worked up just enough courage to open the email. That was step one. I actually had to click on the link to get to the admissions page. I figured I would just go for it.

I looked down the screen and saw ‘Congratulations’ written at the top of the screen. I just stared at it in awe for a moment. And then I cried a little. Okay, a lot. I had so many emotions at that moment. I could not believe that I had been accepted and that all of my hard work and stress had paid off.

I was the only one home so my dog and I celebrated with a cookie for her and one for me.

Through social media, I have met many different people where no two are alike. Some are quiet. Some are outgoing. Some you can always turn to for advice, while others you can count on for a good laugh any time of the day.

Quite honestly, it feels great to be committed to go somewhere. And getting to put it in my Instagram bio is an even greater feeling. As soon as I confirmed my admission, I took right to social media to update my statues. That’s really the only way to do it these days.

At this point, I have about three months left in my high school career, and honestly, I never thought this time would come. I am enjoying my time, doing the activities and events that RHS has to offer. I am having fun with all of my friends, but I am excited to meet new friends. I want to create new memories and adventures that I cannot be offered here in my home town.

But all petty teenager issues aside, it is an amazing feeling of relief and excitement to know that I will be continuing my education in a place that I feel will give me everything and more that I will need later on in life. And I don’t just mean education. I will make many new friends and relationships. I will have to be independent and responsible, but most importantly, I will learn who I am as a growing adult.

Photo credit: Emily Harrison