Waiting in ‘The Twilight Zone’ for College Decision Letters
By KORI C. HAZEL
Matthew Staver for The New York Times Kori C. HazelCherry Creek High
Kori C. Hazel is one of six seniors at Cherry Creek High, a public school in Denver, who are blogging about their college searches.
Having applied to 12 colleges, I have become transformed from a once-passive e-mail and mailbox checker, to someone who checks in constantly throughout the course of the day. Each time, I am looking for signs of life on the horizon of my college admission process.
The waiting game has proved to be the most frustrating and unnerving part of this process, especially since many people at my school already know their post-graduation plans. These people have not only been accepted to a college, they have enrolled as well, leaving me with the blatant feeling that I am the odd one out.
Another issue that keeps arising is the cost of college. The “C” word seems to enter conversation more and more, especially where my family is concerned, because for my family the cost will decide everything.
My parents not only have to pay for me to go to college, but they have to pay for my brother and sister, who are twins and are going to college a mere two years after I go. The last thing I want to do is exhaust my parents’ finances.
Above all, the strangest aspect of being a second-semester senior is the sensation of being caught halfway in the “now” of high school, where the teachers and the majority of students (the ones who are not seniors) are looking at tomorrow as just another day, and halfway in the future with the prospects of not only college, but the next and most influential phase of life.
Yet, in the midst of all the strangeness, came a most welcome twist. In one of my new routine mail checks I stumbled upon a hefty letter from the University of Oregon. I did not hesitate to tear apart the envelope to uncover the letter inside.
As bits and pieces of paper hit the ground and my eyes graced the paper in my excited hands, my face burst into a sudden expression of the utmost accomplishment. I was accepted to my first college. (I had already received my first rejection — from Stanford.) Being accepted signified the realization of the reality that in less than three months, I will graduate from high school and not long after that, I will be on my own for the first time in my life. It was a bittersweet moment.
Not long afterward, I received word from the University of Arizona that I had been accepted there as well. Despite my recent advances in the waiting game, I still have a long way to go, as I wait for word from nine more colleges.
In the meantime I will be applying for scholarships and planning visits to schools that I get accepted to, but before I do that, I will be traveling to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland with the Meistersingers, my school’s choir, on our tour.
I have been waiting for this tour since the beginning of the year, and I am hoping it will provide me a breather from the stress of this application process. And I am hoping that when I return, the bizarre episode in which I find myself a character in will have reached some resolution.
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