Application Advice
Senior Year, Oh my.
I entered senior year like any other senior in the history of seniors. Namely, the senior entrance feeling is characterized by headaches, nausea, unhealthy sleeping habits, missing homework, forgetting and/or missing deadlines, and secret thoughts such as:
The freshmen are SO tiny.
How are seniors supposed to feel?
How are they supposed to act?
… we were not that small in freshman year!
It turns out that each year of high school is the very same ocean. Indeed, we are immersed in this ocean even in senior year—yet the tide is different. Somehow, knowing that this is the last year of high school (ever!) yields a kind of adrenaline rush that turns into anesthesia and finally transforms back into an adrenaline rush to finish off the year.
No, I haven’t yet finished off the year; bear with me now.
I’ll start again.
Dear freshmen, sophomores and juniors: future seniors.
Relax.
Settle down.
Drink some tea.
Breathe.
It’s not as scary as you think.
Like any other hormonal teenage year, senior year comes with confusion, excitement and even fear. The summer is a form of escapism from the anticipation that comes with college applications, but that too, indeed, has an end.
College applications: a phrase that is scarier than the process itself.
From experience, I believe that the main reason why U.S. bound applicants fear applications is because of word limits and expectations. More often than not, two hundred words are too few to allow applicants to express themselves in full and to explain to admissions officers why they want to attend their schools. Frankly, no newspaper article, no college admissions guidebook, no blogs and forums are preparation for the application process. In fact, future seniors, there is no better application preparation than the entire splendor that is YOU.
As a secret poet and aspiring all-encompassing writer, I approached my applications as a personal challenge to skill and thought. Although it took me weeks to put pen to paper, I thought thoroughly about the questions that were asked of me so I may answer them as best I can, and so I may determine whether I am applying to the right schools for me.
It follows, therefore, that I found my application process to be a maturing process: one that allowed me to spend some time with myself, my thoughts and personal experiences. Mind you, applications are not at all a solitary procedure. Counselors, teachers and administration are always involved to provide as much help, guidance and support as possible. If anything, I’ve learned the importance of giving and receiving help and keeping an open mind.
Now, as far as societal expectations go, drop them.
Drop them now.
All throughout high school, I equated college with freedom. To me, freedom entails pursuing what you love to learn because that maximizes happiness in the long run. Learning never ends, and so, in my case, it was most important that I apply to schools that would leave me room to continue seeking and exploring. Ultimately, that is what learning means to me: adventure. I don’t mean book-learning, I mean dedication to life- long learning and experience.
It was more than natural for me, then, to apply to liberal arts institutions.
All NOVA-specific future applicants, read closely.
Although numerous successful NOVA graduates precede you, these graduates are all with stories of their own. No story is identical to another and neither will be yours. I hope that stories of NOVA graduates are not worshiped and followed as sacred paths to success. Rather, I hope these stories provide inspiration for future seniors to be the creators of their own paths and to pursue their own unique interests and dreams. At this point in the process, none of the current seniors know exactly where they will be as of next year. I like to think we’ve all realized that college is much more than a name and much more than the click of a button. College is the next four (more or less) years of fervent youthful freedom. College comes with a certain beauty, with advantages and certain obstacles.
So, if you’re fretting about clicking that ‘submit’ button, think about whether you see yourself attending that school in the next couple of years. It’s most important to make this decision for yourself, based on what you want to get out of your college experience.
I have no doubt you will receive countless advice on writing strategies, transition words, commas and colons. Hopefully, however, you’ll look beyond the screen, into yourself and your surrounding world. Doing so, I experienced the beauty of strong, lasting friendships, and the beauty of discovering and forming new ones. At times, you will also witness friendships deteriorating because they were built on the wrong foundation. Still, it takes courage to create memories in so little time but it’s not too late. It is never too late to change your mind, to go left instead of right, to take off your shoes and run, to keep pursuing in the face of failure, to keep writing when it seems all odds are against you and that the universe strangles you with NO. All you have to do is say YES and keep going at it, because it’s worth it; you’re worth it.
Breathe.
And that freedom of choice that you love?
That’s happiness: yours for the taking.
I entered senior year like any other senior in the history of seniors. Namely, the senior entrance feeling is characterized by headaches, nausea, unhealthy sleeping habits, missing homework, forgetting and/or missing deadlines, and secret thoughts such as:
The freshmen are SO tiny.
How are seniors supposed to feel?
How are they supposed to act?
… we were not that small in freshman year!
It turns out that each year of high school is the very same ocean. Indeed, we are immersed in this ocean even in senior year—yet the tide is different. Somehow, knowing that this is the last year of high school (ever!) yields a kind of adrenaline rush that turns into anesthesia and finally transforms back into an adrenaline rush to finish off the year.
No, I haven’t yet finished off the year; bear with me now.
I’ll start again.
Dear freshmen, sophomores and juniors: future seniors.
Relax.
Settle down.
Drink some tea.
Breathe.
It’s not as scary as you think.
Like any other hormonal teenage year, senior year comes with confusion, excitement and even fear. The summer is a form of escapism from the anticipation that comes with college applications, but that too, indeed, has an end.
College applications: a phrase that is scarier than the process itself.
From experience, I believe that the main reason why U.S. bound applicants fear applications is because of word limits and expectations. More often than not, two hundred words are too few to allow applicants to express themselves in full and to explain to admissions officers why they want to attend their schools. Frankly, no newspaper article, no college admissions guidebook, no blogs and forums are preparation for the application process. In fact, future seniors, there is no better application preparation than the entire splendor that is YOU.
As a secret poet and aspiring all-encompassing writer, I approached my applications as a personal challenge to skill and thought. Although it took me weeks to put pen to paper, I thought thoroughly about the questions that were asked of me so I may answer them as best I can, and so I may determine whether I am applying to the right schools for me.
It follows, therefore, that I found my application process to be a maturing process: one that allowed me to spend some time with myself, my thoughts and personal experiences. Mind you, applications are not at all a solitary procedure. Counselors, teachers and administration are always involved to provide as much help, guidance and support as possible. If anything, I’ve learned the importance of giving and receiving help and keeping an open mind.
Now, as far as societal expectations go, drop them.
Drop them now.
All throughout high school, I equated college with freedom. To me, freedom entails pursuing what you love to learn because that maximizes happiness in the long run. Learning never ends, and so, in my case, it was most important that I apply to schools that would leave me room to continue seeking and exploring. Ultimately, that is what learning means to me: adventure. I don’t mean book-learning, I mean dedication to life- long learning and experience.
It was more than natural for me, then, to apply to liberal arts institutions.
All NOVA-specific future applicants, read closely.
Although numerous successful NOVA graduates precede you, these graduates are all with stories of their own. No story is identical to another and neither will be yours. I hope that stories of NOVA graduates are not worshiped and followed as sacred paths to success. Rather, I hope these stories provide inspiration for future seniors to be the creators of their own paths and to pursue their own unique interests and dreams. At this point in the process, none of the current seniors know exactly where they will be as of next year. I like to think we’ve all realized that college is much more than a name and much more than the click of a button. College is the next four (more or less) years of fervent youthful freedom. College comes with a certain beauty, with advantages and certain obstacles.
So, if you’re fretting about clicking that ‘submit’ button, think about whether you see yourself attending that school in the next couple of years. It’s most important to make this decision for yourself, based on what you want to get out of your college experience.
I have no doubt you will receive countless advice on writing strategies, transition words, commas and colons. Hopefully, however, you’ll look beyond the screen, into yourself and your surrounding world. Doing so, I experienced the beauty of strong, lasting friendships, and the beauty of discovering and forming new ones. At times, you will also witness friendships deteriorating because they were built on the wrong foundation. Still, it takes courage to create memories in so little time but it’s not too late. It is never too late to change your mind, to go left instead of right, to take off your shoes and run, to keep pursuing in the face of failure, to keep writing when it seems all odds are against you and that the universe strangles you with NO. All you have to do is say YES and keep going at it, because it’s worth it; you’re worth it.
Breathe.
And that freedom of choice that you love?
That’s happiness: yours for the taking.
Bisera Djundeva
NOVA Class of 2013
NOVA Class of 2013