WRITTEN BY Sarah Byrne Bautista

GRAPHIC BY Sarah Byrne Bautista

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High school is a strange and challenging time for anyone; there are so many aspects of high school that can be nostalgic or simply humbling. It all just depends on how you approach each challenge that it throws your way: your first finals week, freshman year as a whole, AP classes, honors courses and adjusting to the school schedule after a long and glorious summer break. However, nothing compares to the excitement and pure terror that follows after submitting that first college application senior year. Writing your college essay condenses everything you have worked on and experienced for the past twelve years and pours it into a 650-word essay, which is a crucial factor that will determine the rest of your life. Many seniors at Las Lomas have heard back or are awaiting responses from their respective colleges. Those who have received quite a few college acceptance letters include Las Lomas senior, Grace Nelson. Waiting for the letter of acceptance is “like waiting for Christmas as a child but it’s never there,” Nelson said. Waiting for the letter itself, means you are “being boiled down to one of the 50,000 applicants, [and] it doesn’t feel great” Nelson said. Nelson is referring to being one of the many when applying to college, whose fear ensues over the thought of a random person sitting in an office judging your character based on how well you can write a paper as opposed to you as a person. Another senior who has gotten into a substantial amount of schools but still awaits to hear from a few schools is The Page’s very own Aria Kim-Brown. She describes her experience as “so scary. It’s nerve-wracking, especially when you haven’t gotten anything back yet. Before I got anything…I felt like I wasn’t going to get in…anywhere.” The fear of rejection or failure seems to run rampant amongst seniors, but the silver lining is the relief that comes with a big letter with the first words being “I’m delighted to inform you…”. Kim-Brown’s testament to this is, “And then when you do get in, it’s such a relief. It’s like the best feeling. I would say that it’s really stressful but the payoff is really good”.

With acceptance letters coming in and the end of the year within view, our Las Lomas seniors will be duly missed, but will no doubt thrive in where their future takes them.