Ever since I was little, my mom and I would sit on the couch and watch the news together. Thirty minutes of local or national news was all I needed to feel informed. We would also share the newspaper when I got home from school.
Do you remember a time when the PSAT didn't mean anything? I do. My sophomore year, I took my first PSAT. Our school had given us Saturday off to take the test – yes, my boarding school typically has us in class on Saturdays. Weeks earlier, our college counselors handed us a practice test, just in case we wanted to familiarize ourselves with the test.
It goes without saying that applying to college is at times a mystifying process. No matter how many guidebooks you read, how many hours you spend scouring College Confidential, or how many older friends you talk to, most high school girls still have a million questions.
Everyone wants to be involved with college essays, or at least, it seems like everyone wanted to have a part in mine. For the past three months, I've had a constant chorus of family and friends giving me suggestions and advice.
"The essay is the biggest part of your application! Don't blow it!"
As I put down my email for a possible job interview about a month ago, I explained to the store manager that I wouldn’t be available until December because I'm taking a gap year. She smiled at me and said, “Oh, that’s cool. I went straight to college… and then took a gap year, and I guess it kind of turned into a gap life.” That got me thinking.
