Poster Child

Applications and Appreciation

Posted by Kelsey McLennon on Nov. 12, 2012

Applying for college is an unreal experience: It’s both exciting and one of the most nerve-racking things I have ever done. For example, I started crying instantly when at the exact moment that I hit submit on my UW-Madison application, I realized that I forgot to include one minute detail about an award from a standardized Latin test. However, after about 30 seconds I got over this horrifying fact and realized that not only was there nothing I could do, but there also was no longer anything that I had to do!

I’m applying to colleges all over the place… Wisconsin, California, Missouri, New York... and I know that I want to go away and have an adventure. But yesterday the reality of leaving Wauwatosa and leaving all of my friends hit at our school’s Mother- Daughter Liturgy and Luncheon. Naturally, any conversation with adults during the fall of senior year is about college. I’m pretty sure I spouted out all of the colleges that I’m applying to at least 15 times at the event. While we were all sitting around discussing college I realized that I have less than a year left to be together with all of my best friends. I have less than a year left during which Tosa is my permanent residence.  I have less than a year left until I’m out of my house living on my own. And saddest of all, I have less than a year left with my dog.

For the first time ever, I started to feel slightly nostalgic. I realized that I don’t really dislike high school as much as I sometimes think I do, my parents aren’t really as bad as I think they are (sorry Mom and Dad), and that Wauwatosa is definitely a pretty cool place. Now that I’m done with all my college applications all I can do is sit back, wait, and enjoy the short amount of time that I have left with my great friends, loving family, and amazing town.