I feel that a lot of the time, many students on campus feel this innate pressure to “be” a certain way. There has to be a set of personality traits that everyone’s expected to embody and certain accomplishes that need to be lined up.

Over the course of close to four years of high school, I’ve learned that there really is no instruction manual. One person’s experiences could be the complete opposite from someone else’s. The same goes for preparing for college.  I feel that this is an important topic considering that college applications are currently going on and everybody’s working on filling in their special talents. But, I just want to reiterate that no one should be discouraged by their set of talents or what they want to include in their application. The instruction manuals that I mentioned are all one of a kind. So, we shouldn’t be comparing.

It’s simply not plausible to box ourselves into certain categories. It creates this false reality of life after schooling as a structured lifestyle which is in no way the truth. I mean, if everybody was the exact same or at least all shared multiple common interests, then nothing would run properly at all. Everybody would want to hold the same jobs, live in the same areas, and pursue the same hobbies. Obviously, this is a very extreme example but you get the point.

Contrary to popular belief, diversity is what colleges look for. And it’s what makes us who we are. Even if we don’t apply to the criteria of a certain college, we shouldn’t try to pursue interests that don’t catch our eye just for the sake of it. I feel that it’s important that we maintain who we are throughout the chaos that is senior year.