by Kylie Ikeda, SRVUSD High School Student
For a long time, I thought of college as the beginning of my real life. I used to think that everything I was doing in high school was leading up to those four years. I had to get good grades, take all of the hardest classes, and build a resume that colleges wanted to see. Then, I would finally arrive at the life I had been working toward. I don’t think I realized how much pressure I was putting on college until this year.
As a senior, college has been all I think about. Every conversation with my peers is about where I’m applying to and what my major is going to be. In that environment, I created a rigid mindset. Every decision I made was high stakes and determined my happiness in the future.
But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized how strange that idea is. In the middle of writing one of my college essays, I realized that college is important, but it isn’t the finish line. I had forgotten about the entire life after it.
Figuring Out the Future While Still Figuring Out Who We Are
Being a teenager, the future feels incredibly close and incredibly far away at the same time. We are expected to make decisions about college and careers while we’re still figuring out who we are.
A rejection letter can feel like the end of an opportunity. Choosing the “wrong” major can feel final. Not getting into the school you wanted can feel like you’ve fallen behind everyone else. But none of those things can determine your entire life. I think I forgot that sometimes.
I’ve also had to remind myself that taking care of myself is part of preparing for my future, too. It can be easy to put your mental health at the bottom of your list when everything else feels more urgent.
But you don’t have to wait until things become overwhelming to ask for help. Whether that means talking to a friend or looking into resources like Discovery Counseling Center, reaching out for support is something worth considering.
Taking care of yourself isn’t taking time away from your future, it’s making sure you can actually enjoy the life you’re working so hard to build.
I’ve started thinking about college less as the place where my life finally begins and more as one chapter in a much longer story. That shift has made the whole process feel different.
I still care about where I go. I still have goals, and I still want to work toward them. But I don’t want to spend my senior year acting like I have to have my entire life figured out before I graduate. I’m excited for the unknown and grateful for the time it has taken me to get to where I am now.
If you’re applying to college right now, it’s okay to be excited. It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay to care about the outcome. But try not to convince yourself that this is the moment that determines everything.
There Is So Much More Ahead
Your life doesn’t end when you get rejected from a school and your life doesn’t begin only when you get accepted. Your life doesn’t become meaningful because of a degree, a career, or the name on a college sweatshirt.
There is so much more waiting for you beyond the next four years.
I had to remind myself of that this year. Maybe you do too.