I’m Admitted. Now What?
By WILL WALKER
I mean, I’m not complaining. I love my school, my friends, my family, and I’m certainly going to a college that’s better than anything I ever could have ever hoped for (much less deserved).
And yet, despite all my good fortune, I’m still not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do for the rest of the year (or, for that matter, the rest of my life). Without a specific goal — a G.P.A. to reach, a debate tournament to win, a college to get into — everything has started feeling a little aimless.
And so, as a result, I’ve found myself spending the past couple of weeks more liberally — focusing on doing things for the pleasure of doing them, without the burden of planning and forethought.
For example, I’ve started to try to be more spontaneous. I’ve gone on day trips with my friends — to the art museum, the botanical gardens, even to local Amish country — just to try and take advantage of what my city has to offer, to enjoy Cleveland for what it is before I get up and leave it (probably) forever.
I’ve also started doing the work that I want to do again: Pleasure-reading, creative writing, even a (perhaps misguided) stab at short film making. And, to be perfectly honest, the last couple weeks have been great. I love having time to myself again; I love feeling like I can really start experiencing life before my high-school career ends forever.
But not everyone sees it my way. Some, for instance, have accused me of contracting senioritis, that wretched disease that leaves so many grade reports, and college acceptances, in its wake.
But I’m not sure that prognosis is very accurate. After all, I haven’t become passive because of my college acceptance. I haven’t become lazy, or lethargic, or apathetic. If anything, all my admissions decision has done is give me a little bit of perspective — remind me of the things that are really important to me, the things I really care about.
And so, while the past couple of months may have been a little bit aimless, they’ve also been, in their own way, pretty enlightening. Because, even though I don’t have to stress as much about getting the grade, or writing the essay, or acing the test, I’ve learned that the more rewarding — and maybe the more important work — happens on the things that matter to me, the things that I’m going to hold dear for the rest of my life: my personal growth, my intellectual development, and my relationships.
Maybe that makes all the aimlessness worth it.
I’m Admitted. Now What?
By WILL WALKER
As the excitement of the college admissions season starts to wear down, and the realities of the second semester of my senior year start setting in, I can’t help but feel a little lost.
After all, for the first time in my (quasi) adult life, I don’t know what happens next.
Four years ago, if you would have asked the doe-eyed (and rather doughy) freshman Will Walker what his life was going to be like, he would have had told you, with the utmost confidence, the story of the next 10 years: Get perfect grades, get perfect SAT scores, get into every college in the continental United States, but reject them all to go hitchhiking across Europe while writing the great American novel. Then, after that’s all done with, maybe come back to the States, get a Ph.D., and marry rich. Life successfully completed.
Unfortunately, that’s not quite the way things turned out.
I mean, I’m not complaining. I love my school, my friends, my family, and I’m certainly going to a college that’s better than anything I ever could have ever hoped for (much less deserved).
And yet, despite all my good fortune, I’m still not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do for the rest of the year (or, for that matter, the rest of my life). Without a specific goal — a G.P.A. to reach, a debate tournament to win, a college to get into — everything has started feeling a little aimless.
And so, as a result, I’ve found myself spending the past couple of weeks more liberally — focusing on doing things for the pleasure of doing them, without the burden of planning and forethought.
For example, I’ve started to try to be more spontaneous. I’ve gone on day trips with my friends — to the art museum, the botanical gardens, even to local Amish country — just to try and take advantage of what my city has to offer, to enjoy Cleveland for what it is before I get up and leave it (probably) forever.
I’ve also started doing the work that I want to do again: Pleasure-reading, creative writing, even a (perhaps misguided) stab at short film making. And, to be perfectly honest, the last couple weeks have been great. I love having time to myself again; I love feeling like I can really start experiencing life before my high-school career ends forever.
But not everyone sees it my way. Some, for instance, have accused me of contracting senioritis, that wretched disease that leaves so many grade reports, and college acceptances, in its wake.
But I’m not sure that prognosis is very accurate. After all, I haven’t become passive because of my college acceptance. I haven’t become lazy, or lethargic, or apathetic. If anything, all my admissions decision has done is give me a little bit of perspective — remind me of the things that are really important to me, the things I really care about.
And so, while the past couple of months may have been a little bit aimless, they’ve also been, in their own way, pretty enlightening. Because, even though I don’t have to stress as much about getting the grade, or writing the essay, or acing the test, I’ve learned that the more rewarding — and maybe the more important work — happens on the things that matter to me, the things that I’m going to hold dear for the rest of my life: my personal growth, my intellectual development, and my relationships.
Maybe that makes all the aimlessness worth it.
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