In honor of the coming summer and college graduation season, I’d like to talk about how I’m not supposed to be thinking about college. Really, I mean, that might be overstating it a bit. But as a sophomore, I keep hearing about college—and then get reminded just not to think about it.
The problem is I have two more years until I finish high school. And at least over a year until I start looking into schools. In other words, I have some time. It’ll fly by too quickly, but for the time being there isn’t much I can do except…keep going forward normally in school, get good grades, do clubs, and so on. Right now, thinking too hard about colleges and where I’ll go and if I’ll get into any…all it seems to accomplish is just stressing me out. I’d rather just go through high school and enjoy it for the time being. (I’m sure this will certainly change in a year from now.)
So I’ve come up with a surefire plan on how I won’t stress about college for now—if any of you are in touch with the guys who award the Nobel Prize, feel free to let them know.
Try to take your mind off college when you start thinking about it
Fail
Yeah, I was kidding about having any sort of plan. It’s impossible, while you’re in high school, to forget about the “coming storm.” Whether it’s seeing your junior friends fret over SATs, or watching the seniors gossip over who got early acceptances, or passing the pictures near the advisement office that make every college look like a picturesque castle, it’s impossible to get it off your mind. (Even though my school, Ramaz, put the college advisement office on the basement level so, theoretically, I shouldn’t see it so much, they also put the restrooms there and none on the first floor. Clever of them.)
It’s also just a matter of human nature, at least how I see it. If you tell yourself not to think about something, it’s guaranteed to stay on your mind. That’s why, for instance, it’s impossible to get through Yom Kippur without thinking about food. (“Ah…Not going to think about that slice of pizza…Thinking about God and angels and repentance and ahhh fooooooood …”) So maybe the key isn’t to try not to stress about college, but to use that stress to push myself.
Am I scared about getting into a good college? Better keep studying for that test. Am I nervous about doing well on the SATs? I’ll make sure I’m prepared. Do I want to have a good, well-rounded résumé? Better join quite a few clubs.
When I see people discussing college and where they’re going to go, I get nervous. Will I be able to live up to that? It helps me realize that I have to push myself, to keep working as hard as I can in order to get those chances. And that’s something good to know for life: use the resulting stress and nervousness to push yourself forward to do more. But there is a limit. I shouldn’t be up until three in the morning going over SAT words. (Side note— I’m taking the SAT the year before they change the entire test, so I’ll be able to lord over the younger grades that I know the word effulgent and they don’t!—as if that really scored me any bragging points. And no, I didn’t know that until I Googled “hardest SAT words”— if only the SAT tested googling skills.) Also, I shouldn’t be spreading myself too thin with 5,000 clubs. A bit of stress can be a great motivator, but take it too far and it could hurt you. Balance, that’s what I want to strive for, as unbalanced as life with all its scheduling conflicts and confusing relationships can seem. But hey, life would probably be boring if it was easy! And just like I feel amazing after acing that hard test I’ve spent so much time studying for, I know we all come out better after taking on that challenge.
To those of you graduating from high school or college this year, congrats! I wish you the best of luck in the future.
Oren Oppenheim, age 16, lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and attends Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan. He spends his free time writing and reading, and hopes to become a published novelist. You can email him at [email protected].
ByOrenOppenheim
