Tag: college

College Crap

therightliberal1 Comment

Throughout the entire process of applying to colleges I have been disgusted. The application process is one of the most bogus ideas ever conceived and it should be changed.

Firstly, the process is incredibly biased. I am a very middle class white male which puts me at the back of the pack to begin with. But I have always had good grades and tested well so I wasn’t too worried.

Then it came to the actual application-filling-out part. This was incredibly time consuming during a period in which I was studying for three AP classes as well as working. I struggled to find time to work on the applications but with the help of my mother, the English major, I managed.

Recently, I have been receiving my letters back from the colleges, and there is only one way to put it: it has been disappointing.

Now it’s not what one may think because it’s not that I have been rejected from my top schools. I was wait listed at a couple and got into the rest (minus Pomona who unsurprisingly rejected me).

But despite getting in, I can’t go to most of them because my family and I cannot afford it. They have given me both achievement and need-based scholarships but to no avail. This angers me.

We live in a society that is constantly preaching about how important education is. Yet a student like me, who would almost surely succeed in these schools, is not given a real chance because I don’t have enough money.

Now, I understand that it really is a business. But if our country wants to really go up in the education rankings we need to make it easier for motivated students to get the education that they seek.

But despite my disappointment with the system, I still count myself lucky. It looks like I will be going to Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. They gave me a very nice offer and, despite being in Texas, is a very nice school.

My First Rejection.

yrreskrap1 Comment

The small, white envelope lay limp in my hand. A paper fringe lined the top of the envelope, standing like the dendrites of a hairy neuron, signaling the haste I had in tearing open the envelope.

By its mere size, I knew that the envelope did not hold favorable information. The only question I had was whether or not, inside was letter of rejection or a letter of a waitlist.

“Dear Serry:

It is with genuine regret that I write to inform you that the Admissions Committee is unable to offer you admission to the class entering Pomona College this fall…”

It was fine. I didn’t feel the stereotypical emotions that follow a rejection letter. Perhaps it was because I never intended to go to Pomona College. But nevertheless, it was an interesting experience.

However, this makes me worried about the upcoming notifications this week. I hear from Brown, my number one college, this week. I am scared of receiving a rejection. I don’t want to know how a true rejection, a rejection to a school that I want to go to, will feel like.

SO SCARED…to be continued.

Your Feet

yrreskrap3 Comments

Your Feet

“When I cannot look at your face
I look at your feet.

Your feet of arched bone,
your hard little feet.

…But I love your feet
only because they walked
upon the earth and upon
the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me.”

Pablo Neruda

I love this poem because it can describe anybody that is special to you. Friend, family, boyfriend, or girlfriend.

My mother has always told me that your feet are the doorways to your well-being. If it is flu season, and your feet are bare, you are welcoming the sickness into your body.

I’ve always wondered why she said that. I mean, I could understand why she would advise me to take good care of my hands or perhaps my head, but my feet?
I figured that it was because we use them everyday to walk, to sprint, to skip, to tiptoe, to dance, to keep a rhythm. And since we use them so often, it is crucial that we take care of them.

But this poem took my perspective to another level. Your feet carries you from place to place.
It is not how often you use them or how you use them that make them so special but where they bring you and who you will meet.
That is why my mother stresses me to take care of my feet.

My feet have brought me so far these past 18 years. They brought me up and down mountains and through my life’s pinnacles and pitfalls.

It’s quite funny because my feet used to be my biggest source of self-consciousness. I hated them. I hated the way they looked. I especially hated that because of 4 years of soccer and track, I have two black toenails.
But now, I kind of admire them for where they have taken me. It is almost as if I have a strange respect for them.

Now, as I am going to college, it is time to let my feet take me wherever they choose to go. OH and the places I will see! The people I will meet!

Life is remarkable.

Unfold

yrreskrap1 Comment

AHH!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

Everything is beginning to unfold!

Last Thursday, I found out about Brandeis U and got an acceptance and on Wednesday, I found out about Wellesley! I got in!

Nonetheless, being the overanxious person that I am, I thought that maybe it could be a mistake or that Wellesley changed its mind from the Early Evaluation that I received in February.

So in a way, I was expectant yet relieved to hear about Wellesley yesterday!

BUT that is not what is making the blood in my veins race or the tips of my fingers tingle.

I got a glimpse at my Wellesley financial aid package and it stated a $56,885 scholarship! Only $800 would be in loans!

God is good. He is just so good.

Now I will just have to wait to hear back from the other colleges! Next Tuesday: USC, Vassar. Next Thursday: UC Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth.

Can’t wait to hear what God has in mind for me!

Countdown

rangerthecatLeave a comment


I CAN HARDLY HANDLE IT!!!!
I’m getting so anxious there are no words to describe the feeling.
So anxious and crazy and excited and nervous that I can hardly focus.
I want graduation to come; even though I’m going to miss this place like crazy, there will be the most amazing feeling when I walk across that stage and officially become a college student. I will officially have made it to a place in life that I had serious doubts about a few times in my past.
Oh, and I guess that going to Cabo with 7 of my closest friends doesn’t exactly suck either, huh? 😉

So, due to this slight mental chaos that I’m having, I’m going to have a random blog.

First, I wanted to start by sharing a video and singing duo that I find to be just utterly fantastic.


They call themselves Jayesslee, two twin sisters named Janice and Sonia. They have so many covers of songs that have millions of views on Youtube, so the’re pretty popular. Their harmonies just make me want to melt… And I can’t stop listening to this specific one. I highly recommend anyone and everyone to listen to their stuff!

Secondly, I’m just getting so nervous waiting for my last college decision. I’m so pleased with the schools that I got accepted into (and a little bit disappointed with the ones I was rejected from). But most of my friends have already received their Chapman letters of acceptance, and I’m getting very antsy – I JUST WANT TO KNOW! I checked online on the website, and it says that my decision letter has been mailed out already, so it’s just a matter of time… Unfortunately I’m not the most patient person on the planet.

And last, I know that they are over about 2 months away, so I still have time, but I am already stressing out over the AP tests. Man, am I glad that I dropped out of a few of the AP classes I had been taking in the beginning of the year and lightened my load. Now, I only have AP Psych and AP English as opposed to 5 total as I had in the beginning. Still, I feel like these will be really difficult tests and I’m definitely no where near as prepared as I’m hoping to be. One of these weekends I’m going to have to do some serious looking into what the tests are going to expect.

For now, I’ll just keep looking ahead to the good things in my future like graduation and Cabo!!!!! Hopefully it will help the time pass faster, because as of now, it feels like everything is going by so slowly, I can hardly stand it.

College, College, College

rangerthecat1 Comment

Remember back in December/January when I posted a nice little blog about waiting for colleges to respond back to applications?

Well, finally, the waiting is over! (Most of it, at least).

Last Wednesday, I was sitting with a few friends when I looked to see I had a text message on my phone. It was from my Mom, so I wasn’t expecting anything super mind-blowing.

But instead, I open it and immediately start freaking out. She told me that Cal Lutheran had sent a letter to my house addressed to “Accepted Student” and asked if she could open it. Of course I said yes, called her, and she read me the letter. It said I had been accepted and that they were offering me a $15 thousand scholarship. I was so excited I even asked her to send me a picture of the letter.

Cal Lutheran wasn’t a school I was absolutely dying to go to, but getting that acceptance made me feel just that much more secure. I felt like I didn’t have to worry as much, and that I could relax for the rest of my college admissions (or rejections).

When I returned to school from the honors ski trip, I checked my mail box, and surprisingly there were two more letters waiting for me from Sonoma State and San Jose State. Accepted!!! I then checked online at Cal Poly, and unfortunately I wasn’t accepted like I was hoping… But to be honest, I wasn’t as disappointed as I had thought I would be. About a week later, I logged onto UC Merced‘s website and had another acceptance waiting for me!!!

I’m still waiting to hear from 2 colleges, Chapman and UC Santa Barbara. I really hope I get accepted, of course, but at this point I’m just too excited that I got into 4 colleges that if I don’t get in, it won’t be the end of the world.

Now comes the time to choose which one I want to go to. It’s going to be a really tough decision. Most of them are good schools and I feel like I’d have a great time at all of them. At this point, I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do, but it feels AMAZING to know I have options and that I don’t have to worry anymore.
I finally did it! There’s only 82 days until I graduate from high school and then just a few more months until I will be onto the next 4 years of my life in a new place.


The stress truly never ends.

Yourcupatea1 Comment

Stress !!

My college letters are due any time in the next few weeks. Yes this is very exciting, yes this is nerve racking and although my applications are in and basically completed the stress continues.

Two days ago I was told that I needed to submit additional material, my GCSE grades. This material must come from the official exam boards in an extensive, expensive process.

No my official certificates cannot simply be sent by me, instead they have to take 28days processing in England with postage, processing and other projects paid by me. This is truly ridiculous.

It’s not that the whole process that annoys me; it’s the fact that no one told me. Now I’m up late at night stressing out with no sleep filling out forms and wondering how on earth am I going to get into college.

The stress truly never ends.

Politics and Soccer

therightliberalLeave a comment

To someone who is a fan of one or a fan of neither, this may seem like a very odd combination. But for me it is far from it.

As I look towards college there are two fields that I see myself potentially pursuing, politics and soccer. 

To specify, when I say soccer I mean the management side of it. And when I say politics I mean going into the legislative branch in some form.

Now these two may seem to be far apart in the processes and lifestyle but to me they are quite similar. Both are in the eye of the public and both aim to please the public. Both deal with large amounts of money and work on a global scale. And most importantly, both are passions of mine.

I have been involved in the business side of soccer for about 4 years now. It’s surprisingly complicated at times and the attention to detail is large. I have also followed politics closely for some years now and I get a similar vibe there.

So the issue I run into is which one do I choose? I love both, I can make good money doing both and I feel like I have potential in both. But if I end up in one and hate it can I switch to the other?

These thoughts are shared with many young people my age I am sure. It is hard being tasked with choosing where your life will head. At times I wish someone would just choose for me but I know I would have regrets.

As I look towards college I am thinking of all the possibilities and what I could do to keep both doors open as long as possible. I know that now is not the time to make the choice but taking steps to find out is important.

So here is a word of advice for people younger than me: do all you can to figure out what you want to do. My parents have “forced” me to work in the areas I like and it has made a huge difference because I have been able to narrow it down. I know so many kids my age who are worried because they just have no idea. I am sure they will find out soon enough but it takes off so much stress knowing that you know what you want to do.

So for parents and kids, take steps to find out your passion. Sometimes you find out something surprising but all the information is good information.

A Time for Change.

yrreskrap2 Comments

Change is healthy.

Today, before I left the dorms for the Ojai Farmer’s Market, I made a spur of the moment decision to change my room around. My bed has been rearranged. My dresser once cluttered with various cosmetics and toiletries is now bare, my small pink and white refrigerator brandishing those same perfumes and toothbrushes.

It feels good.

I spent a large part of my day cleaning and reorganizing and reopening and removing. I usually feel a need for this sort of change at the end of the school year in the dormitories.

Today was different though.

As I am beginning to sum up my five years at Ojai Valley School, writing the last pages of my high school days, priming for the next chapter of my life, I am slowly growing more anxious, scared, and unsure.

What is undeniable is my insatiable desire to graduate. 

I don’t know what it is. A part of me does not want to leave, knowing how much I will miss this place, a part has been growing since September. I guess I am scared to leave this small hill that blessed me with so many happy, great memories but, I think I am too scared to leave the people I love so much behind.

But time is surely passing by faster this year…

I only wish that I make sure this year is great. I am happier than I ever was with my friends and the people I surround myself with. And I want to leave feeling elated and proud.

COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that is what I cannot get off my mind. Where will I GO!? I find out the results of my Early Evaluation application to Wellesley College. But after that, I have another dreaded MONTH of waiting for results. Goodness gracious. The college process is absolutely dreadful. Hopefully, great news will unfold in the upcoming weeks!!

Wish Me Luck.

 

Senioritis

rangerthecat5 Comments

SENIORITIS!!!!

It’s here. And it’s kicking in BIG TIME.

I was extremely motivated to do well in school in the beginning of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to do well, and I haven’t completely given up. But ever since college applications have all been turned in, I have noticed a shift within me and my friends that I thought I would be able to resist.

It also could be more apparent in me than in my peers, considering the fact that I have been in high school for 5 years rather than the average 4. I have had an extra year of wanting to be out of here, and it is eating away at me little by little.

Some people might not agree, but for me, I actually like going to school for the most part. But the fact that it’s the SAME THING every single day, and the fact that I feel like there’s more and more homework each week.
SO. MUCH. HOMEWORK.

I hope that this upcoming break will help dissipate some of these feelings, at least a little bit, but I’m pretty sure it will not be solved until the day that I graduate. The more I keep thinking about it, the worse it gets. I guess I just need to try harder than ever to keep myself motivated and not slack off!

Just about 4 months and 3 days until graduation, it’ll all be over. At least, for a little bit.