SATs, college applications and the ACT. These three things basically add up to be the biggest stressor in my life. Junior year. Imagine it like this: high school is like a door. On the outside of that said door is eighth grade and the remnants of your childhood. The “fluff period” if you will. But once you open that door and take a step, monsters like 11th grade will make you miss middle school.

   I didn’t get the whole 10th grade you-know-what-to-expect-next-year transition to junior year. Thanks, COVID. I literally spent sophomore year behind a computer screen trying to fight sleep, so I guess you could say the upcoming year was a wake up call. Why is it that I have to decide what I want to do as an adult (and for the rest of my entire life) as a 16-year-old? I can barely decide on what shoes I want to wear each day to school, let alone my career path. The SAT is the test that sets you up for your life if you’re going the traditional college route. 

   I feel like there’s a weight on my chest. How I study now will determine how well I do on the test, and how well I do on the test will determine whether I get into a good college or not and so on and so forth. See how stressful that sounds? Imagine living it. I’m surprised my hair hasn’t grayed or fallen out. I know I’m not the first and only junior to go on the college journey in the history of people who went to high school, but how did they do it? Were stakes not as high? Were colleges easier to get into? Did people just not care? 

   In the movies they always show 11th grade as fun and exciting. Take “High School Musical” for example, in the movie all the characters seem cheerful. So cheerful that they break out into song and dance during almost every lunch period. Now, I don’t actually expect people at school to sing “We’re All In This Together” as we walk into our next class, but I thought high school would be a little more exciting and less stressful than it is. 

   I know that in the long run when I’m rich and famous I’ll be happy that I was over-exerting myself to get into a good college. Because that’s what I want more than anything right now, just to get into a good college.