Hi! I’m writing Collegebored this year. This space is where I’ll share some thoughts about college applications as we go through the process together. Maybe it resonates with you. Maybe it’ll give you a new perspective on the process. And hopefully, you’ll enjoy it. 

As a freshman, I remember seeing Collegebored in the Musket for the first time. Plastered on the page was a scream; “Aaaaaaaaa.” At that moment, the very notion of college applications was pure anxiety. That hasn’t changed. But let’s scream together to let it all out: Aaaaaaaaaa. 

Ok. When you think of the college application, the sheer amount of writing comes to mind. Brainstorming topics for the personal statement and supplements involves reflection. Honestly, the application process is a reflection on the passage of time. Searching for essay ideas involves digging deep into the past, the present, and the future. The last two years have been hectic. Sometimes, time moves like a swift mountain stream. 

The prospect of college apps might have dawned on us last month or way back during freshman year. Applying to college seemed like a distant gray cloud at first. But now, it’s a raging downpour, a cascade of water, a cascade of stress and hope.

Water has been around for billions of years. It doesn’t get to decide which state it’s in: solid, liquid, or gas. And during the college process, we also have no control over where we get in. Also, water isn’t always in the same state. Just like how water undergoes phase changes, we will evolve too. The college application process evaluates our past selves, not our present or future selves. Applying and going to college is a mere fraction of life. In the end, getting in somewhere doesn’t really bestow us with anything extremely special, besides the fact that we got in. We’re still human beings with a lot to live for, and water is still water.

The coming months will be tough. So during these times, let’s be there for each other. Let’s not contaminate ourselves with toxicity. No matter what happens in December, in March, or in April, be pure. 

Be water. 

TLDR: Love it or hate it, please send feedback to [email protected]. Appreciate it!