By Anna Genna
I was the kid who was stressing about college in sixth grade, and now that I finally applied, got into, and am going to college, I have many regrets. It is easy to get caught up in the most common pattern most everyone follows when it comes to college: spending high school doing activities and extracurriculars that you think colleges will like. But it is important to remember that everyone’s journey is different; just because you aren’t doing the same things as your friends doesn’t mean you are doing it wrong.
College isn’t where life begins, and it isn’t where everything will happen for you. Spend high school doing things not for college, but for yourself. Activities that you enjoy will make you much happier than doing activities you hate to appease other people. If you are only involved in activities that will make your college application look better, you might get into your dream college (emphasis on might), but you will not have had a good time in high school. Don’t put yourself on the back burner so that others, whether they be peers or colleges, will think you are doing well. And be careful not to burn yourself out. Going to your dream college when all you can do is hate school isn’t ideal.
Plans can change so quickly, and you are guaranteed very little. So spend more time doing things you love, doing things that will benefit you, not your college. And don’t think life ends if you don’t get into the perfect college. The college you believe to be perfect might be the worst college for you, so research to find a college that fits your needs academically and personally. Or take a gap year. Go to community college and transfer later. Getting into an Ivy League college immediately after high school and spending exactly four years there isn’t going to work for everyone. If anything, it doesn’t work for most. Do what works best for you, always.