Whether you received thick manilla envelopes or thin white ones, “The Wait is Over. Now What?” Rachael Morton from Oxford, Ohio, writes about the next step, after the long spell of anxiety high school seniors were faced with recently. The piece is personal, relatable, and full of questions. Both sophisticated and friendly language invite you to listen to her as she tells you a story you’ve already heard, but her retelling of pre-college angst is just as terrifying as your own.
I personally enjoyed the piece because of how much it mirrored my own situation. NYC high school results just came in, and with 700 different programs to look at, it is hard not to question where you truly belong. “At this small East Coast college, I might become a daring inventor. At this rigorous Midwestern university, I might be glued to my textbooks, planning a quiet life of research and teaching.” Her choices and drastically different paths are similar to my own, giving her and I ultimatums on what we really want. “But in truth,” she writes, “these fantasies are about people who aren’t really me.” By now, Rachael’s probably had to make her decision, but choosing who you want to be is a path that doesn’t come down to a single letter of intent.