Some Advice For My Fellow Senior Citizens

"I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes...

I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis. But I have not yet gone to college."
(- an actual college essay by a student who is now attending NYU.)

 Wow.  That sounded like Supergirl, not a high school senior. Actually, it kind of reminds me of that Old Spice commercial. ("What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady. I’m on a horse.") 

Ahem.

  I don't know about you guys, but at this point in my college applications I'm sorely tempted to write something crazy like the above essay. It's hard not to compare your accomplishments with those of your peers, and sometimes you feel inadequate because of it  Add that to balancing schoolwork, family, extracurriculars, a social life, and volunteering opportunities. That equals some serious stress, my friends. *all seniors nod agreement*

Guess what though?

There are multiple problems with this train of thought.

1.) It involves comparing yourself with your peers. Healthy competition is okay, but if you belittle your accomplishments by focusing on someone else's, that's dangerous. ( see this post we wrote about the dangers of comparing).

2.) . Although you may think a college wants a certain type of person with a certain set of skills/background,  they just want the unprecedented YOU. They want a person who's going to bring something unique to the table or who has a point of view they might not have thought of before;  someone with new ideas and a drive to implement them.

If you haven't heard it lately, let me say it again. You are enough. You are adequate. This is part of the reason why Belle, Mercy and I founded this blog together and called it True To You, because we wanted to remind everyone how important it is to be aware of the strength in your uniqueness. If you need to, take some time and write down all of the things that you're passionate about and why. "Know thyself."
         Make sure that you take some time and just look over your personal statement or writing supplements and ask the question, "is this how I actually communicate with people?" If it doesn't sound like something you would say, take it out. If you're not writing as yourself and instead you're writing as what you think you should be, colleges can see right through that. It's better to open up and be who you truly are than just to write what sounds good. 
     That's what I've experienced so far, and y'all can take or leave my advice as you please :) . I'm  wishing everyone luck with their respective application process and I will be praying for you all!!




If you guys have any crazy application stories of your own or have any questions please please pretty please leave us a comment below! We'll get right back to ya. 




-Caroline :)