Welcome back to the College Diaries series. This is a school advice post.
I’ll be a Junior in HS this upcoming semester. I’ve been planning for college since I was in eighth grade, I found out a few years ago that my college savings was gone and my dad wouldn’t be able to help me with tuition. I also realized that having a bunch of debt isn’t a great way to start life.
So since then, I use my summers to fill up my student resume and properly organize the school semester before-hand so that I’m efficient during the year. I got a few side gigs to build my savings but my focus is on education, not money. I hope this post gives you motivation to start University shopping and make the best of your high school years.
God has been really good to me. Starting this blog has helped A LOT with organization and “presentations” to college admissions. I also have so many friends here, people think I don’t have many since I do online school-they have NO IDEA!!
We’re friends right?
Questions To Ask Yourself Before Applying.
- Do you really need that fancy diploma to conquer the world, or are you just collecting expensive paper? HMMMM???
- Are you college-bound because ‘that’s what everyone does,’ or is it a calculated move?
- How do your goals align with your chosen major?
- When you look through your life, notice the people who always had good advice and direction. Get their thoughts on your education.
- Any extracurricular interests?
- Class sizes, my friend, it matters. Are you a cozy café chat person or a stadium concert person?
Remember, college is a big deal, but it’s also not.
I know some of these questions seem like…DUH, but I’ve been asking myself these and realized some of the schools on my list are just for the friends I know attending, or the ones begging me to go with them.
It’s hard leaving home and all of your best friends, I get it. Just remember you can always call and visit. You’re growing up now. You’re building the life you want.
How to Benefit From Your Four Years In High School
My friend and I are in the same classes, we both take school seriously. High School is your time to dedicate your life to learning-learn as much as you can as fast as you can. If there’s ever a better time to be spiritually grounded, it’s high school. Being a teenager is hard, every choice you make alters the rest of your life. Discover your Creator and learn how to listen to that small voice inside of you so when everything else is screaming you don’t lose your head.
My friend and I are in the same dance classes, and we both take school seriously. It started when we were 3 and 4. Commencing one’s dance education at such an age confers distinct advantages, schools take a second look because of it. There is a harmonious symphony between one’s developing physique and the demands of the art form. There is a noticeable difference. Thank you mom, love you!
Over time, this collaboration of age and sport yields improvements in the essentials you can’t learn in a summer camp – enhanced points, impeccable turnouts, graceful leaps, and extended extensions. Beginning as a toddler, one’s physicality is perfectly aligned with the artistry. This applies to other things too. Start young, but if you can’t, no better time than now.
It’s not easy though, classes have become very hard for us. It’s not a super chill time after school anymore. We have to earn our spots.
We’ve had some rough classes together. When it ends it feels like a miracle. We wonder why we ever signed up for the hardest classes EVER. It takes crying on the drive home, which eventually turns into laughing so hard we start crying again; dinner, a pep talk with our moms, and a very lengthy shower to remind us that saving at least 160k with a free ride to college makes it worth it. Sometimes you just have to picture your parents’ and grandparents’ proud faces.
My point in all of my rambling… hah point…
Work as hard, play hard. Life is for living. When someone asks you what your plans are after graduation, it’s okay to say you don’t know. You have all of your life to figure it out. I know everything seems like such a big deal but it’s not. Don’t pull all-nighters every night, you can’t get clear skin without sleep. Don’t be so uptight, relax! My quality of work is always better when I’m chill anyways. Take pictures with your friends. It doesn’t seem like it but they’ll merely be Facebook friends in thirty years. School Interviews don’t need to be intimidating, be YOURSELF. Stop copying, and do the things everyone is too scared to do. Don’t you want to feel like you’ve lived at the end of your life? College isn’t for everyone. Elon Musk dropped out after two days.
Thanks for reading. 🙂 Goodnight blog friends.
Happy 19th birthday.
Elaine Kate 