Application Season

Today is October 26. The word on everyone's tongues--or in the backs of everyone's haunted brains-- is "college." For seniors applying early, this upcoming week will be perhaps the most stressful week of the year. I include myself in the legion of stressed students, because while I have been working on my essays since the summer, I'm still not satisfied with where they are. I will have to be satisfied soon; they're due on Saturday.

Even though I spent this morning and yesterday morning writing for my applications, I'm not burned out. My essays are essentially stories about myself. I journal and write this blog, so clearly I enjoy writing about myself (how narcissistic), but college essays are different. They're more focused; whereas my journal entries aim to record for my future self what I've been up to, a college essay asks me to tell a story that I find important, and then tell the world--in this case, an admissions committee--how the events of the story impact me. I have written many.

I wrote about cleaning stalls.

View from the barn towards the Richard Odman Memorial Manure Shed (right of wheelbarrow)

I wrote about Kate, a horse at the NMH farm who died this summer.

Kate

I wrote about The Phantom Stallion series.

My not-so-phantom gelding and I pose for the camera

I wrote about mountains.

Scene at the trailhead of the hike which I wrote about: 5 AM.

Afternoon thunderstorm over Buck Mountain

I wrote about how I convinced my parents to adopt three kittens.

One of the three kittens, Veronica

Except for the last one, which is part of a writing supplement, I'm still not sure which story tells the most about me. I have yet to decide which essay I will end up using. And part of the equation is how well I express what's important about the story I choose.

Despite my indecision,  and even though the deadline has me stressed, I'm confident I'll finish up with time to spare. I have every A block off this week, and my time management skills have grown so solid this year that I'm not really worried about getting my homework done, either. I might even sleep!

Writing this post has cost me half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes. I don't regret using my time this way, as I did need a break from telling an unknown admissions committee about my experiences hiking with an ice ax during a thunderstorm, but it is time for me to get back to work.

Happy birthday, Mommy!

Evening photography by Lake Solitude, featuring my mother.