Finally! It is here, my senior year of high school. After 3 long years of setbacks, hardships, and dedication, I finally get to say I’m a senior at Hawthorne High School. Now, I can sit back, relax and let the coming months fly by until I get handed my diploma. 

Going into my last year of high school, I naively thought that my senior year was going to be a cakewalk with no problems in sight…I was wrong. On the first day of school in September, I was reminded of the one thing I kept dreading throughout the whole summer…my college essay.

Since I was a freshman, I had no clue what I was going to write about because if I’m going to be honest, I don’t have a life-riveting story to tell. I am your normal and average seventeen-year-old who has a normal family, friends, hobbies, and a job. I gave the process time and waited for an idea to come to mind. I listened to my parents, teachers, and scoured the internet for many different examples.

This was until, my English teacher Ms. Clifford said something that took me back to a conversation I had with my father. Wait a second, you’re not here to read about my college essay. You’re here to read about my experience so far as a senior attending Hawthorne High School. 

I do have to add that being told you have one week to write a 500-600 word essay about yourself to show colleges how you stand out does bump up your anxiety from a one to a solid nine. For incoming seniors, and from my own personal experience, I recommend listening to your English teacher in your junior year by working on it over the summer. (Sorry Mrs. Clark for not listening to your advice.)

Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT do what I did and wait until you have a week left to write the essay. You will save yourself a lot of time and stress, and who doesn’t like to have more time and less stress in their lives?

As I began to write the essay, all I could think was, “How will these colleges view me? Am I truly different? How do I stand out?” and, “Does this even sound good?” All you need to know as a writer, person, and student is that this essay is your story. While it can be edited and changed, it is still your writing and your thoughts on that paper. My last piece of advice would be to give the process time, it will eventually come to you. Ask questions, and be proud of your work because this is your story and no one can change that.