The Axiomatic Musings of a Teen who has submitted her college applications.

It's a beautiful, beautiful feeling.

Things I'd advise to juniors and such after going through "the process":

-Chill the f**k out. Tell your parents to chill the f**k out. I started researching colleges and visiting them in like, April of my junior year. I visited more in the summer and I was FINE. This starting in sophomore year shenanigans just prolongs the stress.
-Write an essay as soon as the occasion strikes you as soon as you can. Something awesome happens to you? Write an essay about it. Something horrible happens? Write an essay about it. Something that comes naturally comes out better than when you force a college essay because you need a college essay.
-VISIT VISIT VISIT. I actually considered applying to UConn until I visited the campus and saw 4 people I knew in like 3 hours. Knew at that moment I was going out of state. You have to find the places you can really picture yourself in, the places you walk around the campus smiling the whole time.
-Take SATs and SAT IIs as early as you feel comfortable in Junior year. Personally I regret taking the SATs the same week of AP tests and the NHS application; it ended up working out fine but it was a lot of stress in a short amount of time that I wouldn't like to repeat. Plus the earlier you take them the more chances you have to retake.
-When you do take the SATs, CHILL THE F**K OUT (detecting a pattern yet?). A lot of my friends who bought the review books, took the prep classes, and were freaking out and getting no sleep before the test did significantly worse than I, who said, "eh, I'll do the SAT question of the day for a few months, get sleep the night before, then try my best and if I don't do well I have plenty of time to retake it so no worries." I really think the lack of stress helped me focus better than if I was freaking out and overthinking.
-When you decide where you're applying, get those transcript request and recommendation forms in ASAP: if you leave it to the 15-school-days-before, you risk your application not being complete on time. There was such a rush in mid-October this year that Mrs. Flood was turning people away because Guidance just couldn't handle it. Getting your act together sooner than later and makes life easier for everyone.
-Did I mention chilling the f**k out? Seriously, you should not be coming into study hall crying from stress. It's ridiculous and means you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Relax, have some faith in yourself, and just do the best you can.
-Just apply to schools you want to go to. So many people have been telling me they're applying to 10 schools but only even liked about 5. Um, no. I applied to 3, and will apply to one more if I don't get into ANY of those early decision. Some of those are easier to get into than others but I don't think I'll get denied from all 4. And applying to extra schools that I wouldn't even go to if they DID accept me is a waste of time and a $70 application fee, so why bother?
-Interview! It's really helpful and gives them a better idea of who you are. I know personally I'm a lot more charming in person than on paper so it certainly can't hurt :P.
-RRRREEEEELLLLAAAAXXXX.
-Don't lie about your SAT scores. Particularly if they're just unreasonable. And you magically received them a full day before they were released to anyone else. You just make yourself look silly.
-When you finish an application, go eat ice cream. That's an order. And pat yourself on the back. You done good, kid. :D

So yeah. Now we wait :O.

*: "Make It Mine" by Jason Mraz

The Axiomatic Musings of a Teen who can sleep when she's dead!

The whole "relax" thing is kind of a foreign concept to me. In the last 10 days I have:

-Visited Cornell University, been interviewed by the School of Hotel Administration, toured the SHA building, and toured the main campus in a two-day trip

-Been inducted into the National Honor Society

-Memorized my lines in a scene in Midsummer Night's Dream

-Attended 6 hours of rehearsal time and an additional 3 hours of cast bonding for Midsummer's

-Won an apple fritter eating contest! :D (Against a group of 13 teenage boys and Naomi!! It was awesome. Apple fritters from the Southington Apple Fest are one of my favorite foods ever, they're like happiness and apples deep fried in smiles and coated in cinnamon sugar and crack. I ate 12 for the contest and won $30 :D)

-Wrote the 30 page script of a play

And there's still a huge list of more things that I could have been doing but have put off for the next 10 days xP. BUT Lia made me feel bad for not posting so I'm here anyway :D. I'm far too exhausted to come up with anything horribly witty but here are updates on the most important/prevalent things in my life right now:

-Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. Think about your favorite food, freshly homemade. Think about how delicious it would be. Think about how much you want it right now. That desire, to the 10th power, is how badly I want to go to the SHA. It's PERFECT for me. Their alliance with the Culinary Institute makes it possible for me to do everything I want, while still going to an amazing university to get the best possible hospitality training I could. The campus is BEAUTIFUL, the SHA building is really modern and gorgeous, and everything about the school was just amazing. My interview went well so the last thing I have to worry about is my essay but I have a plan for that so I think I'll be okay. And funny story: I love the song "Hey, Soul Sister" because it reminds me of happiness and Australia and the person I want to be and the way I want to feel. And while we were visiting Cornell, guess what song just *happened* to be playing from their bell tower between a class? :D IT'S SERIOUSLY MEANT TO BE. If I get in Early Decision I'm probably going to make carnelian and white sugar cookies and mail them some in gratitude :D.

-One Acts and Midsummers. I'm the director in One Acts, and I play the director Quince in Midsummers, lawls :D. Both are really fun. I'm glad the One Acts script is finally settled (AND AMAZING) and Midsummers is a lot of fun. It's cool being in one play while directing another, because it really makes me appreciate how hard it is when I tell the actors to be off-book in a week xD. 

-Sal. Our one-month was a few days ago, and he's awesome, basically :). I mean we have issues sometimes with basic stuff, like the ratio of relationship to family to friends, or when it's okay to spend more time with your deck of Magic cards than your girlfriend (jokes!!) but I think that's fairly normal for the beginning of a relationship and we're figuring it out okay. We're having a romantic birthday dinner on Friday (I'm turning 17 on Sunday :D) which we're both really looking forward to :). 

-The whole eating/body-image thing. Eh..It's getting there. It's a lot more frustrating for Sal to deal with than I originally realized, and I feel pretty terrible causing stress for him and fights for us, so I'm working on being a little more accepting of myself and less obsessive with food and appearance and such. 

-Did I mention Cornell? Sorry it's kind of one of the only things I talk about anymore.

-The Haunted Effing Hayride. Ooh this is going to be a fun long rant xP. Here's the deal because I want to make sure you know what actually happened. I'm a class senator, and we're having a Haunted Hayride fundraiser. So Smasher assigned me to come up with ideas for the Haunted Hayride to scare people. I did, and presented a long list of scary, inexpensive, and easy to execute ideas to the class officers. They loved them, thought they'd be really scary and great, then gave me a map of Bishop Farms that the senior class used last year, and asked me to write a story for the hayride that would fit with the scare tactic things I came up with. That was my assignment. (That and to make cookies to sell as well but that's unrelated) I was given no guidelines or restrictions except the map. So I spent three hours one afternoon writing the whole fricking thing and putting it all on the map and writing up a list of volunteers needed, materials needed, everything they asked and beyond. I then presented it to the class officers, and they (except Smasher who was busy with Twerp but I'll get to that) loved that as well! They said it was creative and really scary and would be great. Awesome, right?

NOT AWESOME.

Because see TWERP just decided to show up to the meetings because he was a volunteer for the Hayride last year. He isn't an officer, he just decided to show up. When I went over my plan, he said that he had some materials from a Haunted House he and his family used to do that would fit into my plan. Great, I thought, even if he's pretentious and arrogant maybe he can be of some use. Then after that meeting, I went to rehearsal, and unbeknownst to me, Smasher and Twerp went to the farm to show the plan to the farmer guy there. Who apparently rejected the entire thing, because it sounded dangerous, and the map was wrong because things had changed since last year. Now let me just say of COURSE it sounded dangerous, danger is what SCARES people. If i had been there to explain just how the danger was only SEEMINGLY dangerous and the plan I had for executing it could not actually potentially harm anyone, it would have been fine. If Smasher had been paying attention to my initial presentation and listened to how I verbally explained the safety precautions (aside from the written script, which is what they showed the farmer), it would have been fine. BUT NO so my entire idea got canned. This was the weekend I went to Cornell. So I get an inbox in the car on the way up from Smasher asking me to call him about the hayride, no specifics. I explained I couldn't, I was busy, but if he just inboxed me what I needed to do I could do it. He said it was fine, he'd take care of it, and that was the last I heard.

I returned from Cornell on Monday evening and went to Senate where I was talking to the other senior senators. They were telling me about the meeting that afternoon where Twerp had presented his new plan. New plan? I asked. Yes, they said, they can't use your idea so Twerp rewrote a new one. Clearly I was confused, so I asked Smasher the next day after Lit. He didn't have much time to talk but said something about the danger liability thing. The day after that, I was walking in the hall and found myself next to Kevin (who I'm talking to again now :D) and Twerp himself. So I said, "So, I hear you're in charge of the Haunted Hayride plan now?" And arrogant as always, he said, "Oh yeah, [Farmer] hated it, there's no way we could do [scary awesome but safe stunt] or [terrifyingly epic but safe stunt] and he just didn't like it at ALL, so I stepped in and wrote a new one with all my old haunted house stuff." Fantastic, I thought. I was really upset that I had basically been completely replaced without my knowledge or consent, and by this TWERP of all people, so I inboxed Smasher as politely as I could explaining that I wish he had just let me know what was going on. Because really I can't blame him at all, he's busy with too many things to worry about one person, so if something needs to be done and someone is right there that says they can do it, they're doing it. Plus with Twerp donating all the decorations he's pretty much cornered Smasher. So (as much as I wish he had come to ME to edit the script once they knew the restrictions, or I wish he had just TOLD me when it happened) I hold nothing against him at all, just the arrogant little Twerp. Who STILL has the balls to try to sit with Sal and I at lunch. The other day I made it VERY clear he was not welcome and he still didn't leave, just sort of turned around and was reading the Hayride script. So naturally I was curious so I took a glance at the script over his shoulder and OH LOOK AT THAT HE USED THE INTRODUCTION FROM MY VERSION ABSOLUTELY VERBATIM. HOW FREAKING CREATIVE OF HIM. Asshole. Like seriously it's not that he replaced me because like I said, I totally see Smasher's logic. It's just that some annoying NON-class officer would just swoop in, tell me they hated my script and it was awful, then use half of it anyway, and just give me such an intolerable attitude AGHH I want to scream just thinking about it. And I'm not the only one who feels that way, I was talking to the senators on Monday and they aren't too happy with him either xP. So that's that. I've kinda gotten over it since I'm just doing the cookie sale now but it's just his arrogance I can't tolerate. I'll be glad when this is all over. 

-Homework. Which after spending an hour writing this I should probably get back to xD. 

*: "Make It Mine" by Jason Mraz