OPINION

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By Harper Hailes

As a Senior, all my peers seem to talk about college. College competitiveness is a topic that is very prominent at Collegiate, and will always be, and is one of the main discussions as a Senior. There are always questions: “Where have you applied?” “Where do you wanna’ go?” Or, a fan’s least favorite, “Where have you gotten in?” They all sound like a broken record. Typically, those questions are asked every single day, and they drive most students crazy. I always disliked these questions, since I didn’t really know where I wanted to go to college up until about nine months ago, and I always felt like where I wanted to go never sounded “smart enough.” 

Collegiate’s College Counseling Office. Photo credit: Harper Hailes.

In the early stages of high school, the idea of college never crossed my mind. I was never too sure on where I would end up, or what my future would look like. In freshman year, I was oblivious to the fact that college was going to become all I thought about. Over the last few months, I have been wondering where I want to spend the next most important four years of my life, but nothing really came to me. What consumed my mind more was where other people wanted to go and where my friends would end up. 

After sitting at lunch with my friends one day last spring, I heard where they all wanted to go to college, and I began to feel stressed and overwhelmed. I thought to myself, ” I can’t get into any of those schools.” Knowing I wanted to attend Ole Miss, I began to think that it was not good enough for Collegiate, and was not seen as a “good school.” 

When I began to hear about where everyone wanted to go to college, I began to fret and second-guess myself and the decisions I made. I got so invested in where everyone else wanted to go, I almost forgot where I wanted to go myself. After hearing time after time from my friends, “I want to go to UVA,” I began to think, “Oh gosh, should I apply to UVA?” and my stress level rose, as did my nosey side. I knew I would not be able to get into UVA, but when you grow up in such a small bubble at Collegiate, you begin to worry about what other people are doing and what they are going to think of your choices. Collegiate’s Director of College Counseling Brian Leipheimer says that when he got to Collegiate, “I was unprepared for what seemed like a unique love with Collegiate families and UVA. Collegiate possesses an obsession, and I do not think that is always healthy.” Hearing Leipheimer say this has made me feel better. 

As time went on, I quickly realized I only need to focus on myself and what is best for me. I have never been a competitive person, especially with grades, but when I watched my peers grow more passive-aggressive toward each other with their applications, I knew that it was better to keep where I was applying to myself. When someone asked me those three questions, I began to just tell them, “Oh somewhere South and big,” because I knew what I wanted, but never felt the need to share. 

Now that I know I’ll be attending Ole Miss, I am overcome with joy and happiness. I feel as though I have found my “best fit,” as the college counselors like to say, and I could not be more excited. Going through the college application process, I realized that you cannot stress over what other people are doing, and time is your best and worst friend. As everyone applies and finds out what schools they are getting into, I am lucky enough to sit back and relax, because I truly found what is best for myself. Leipheimer says, “I love the word ‘best,’” yet finding the best-fitting school can be hard and tiring. But once I finally found my true fit, it was the most rewarding feeling in the world.

Featured image credit: Visit Mississippi via flickr.