Photo courtsey of Rivata Dutta
By LILLIANA ZAR | Contributing Writer
There is a specific feeling that I tie to summer, one of watermelons and chlorine and airports. High school has taught me to be able to plan ahead, and the summer from junior year to senior year stares down August and college applications.
The feeling of summer that I now have is one of tension and apprehension; the culmination of 12 years of schooling truncated into one semester to lay it all out for a select group of adults that will determine the result of sleepless nights and skipped parties.
It’s real now, it wasn’t really before. Applying to college had always loomed over my head, but I hadn’t realized how illogical it is to put so much pressure on a student in a year of time until I was in the midst of it.
Summer isn’t a break, it’s another opportunity to make yourself “look good.” It differs from student to student, but the general consensus is that no one is looking forward to first semester senior year. It’s different than a playful “ugh, school,” it’s a notion of wanting to fast forward those four months. I seriously wish I were a record player right now.
For those of us heading into senior year, it’s hard to keep things in perspective. We’ve had the notion that college is a reflection of our value as a person pounded into our head, which makes first semester senior year not just have weight with regard to our future, but also dictate our self-perception.
That’s a lot. For those making the rules: Fix it, you’re putting a lot of pressure on one year.
For my fellow incoming seniors, enjoy your summer—we’ll make it out of apps together and take the results in stride.
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