A senior’s most stressful point is the brain-numbing, anxiety filling, self-worth revealing, college application process.

It seems like a simple process, all you have to do is fill out the college application, write a college essay, and wait to be accepted by your college choices.

I wish it was that easy.

After finishing my common apps, I can tell you first hand that this process was not fun and was the core reason I had a gut-wrenching and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream filled week.

It started with the general application. This is a fairly simple process that asks you questions where it makes you look back at the past 6 six years. It’s easy to fill in the high school you currently go to but it’s hard to find the meaningful experiences that make you appear like a morally good and hardworking student.

I made the decision to choose extracurriculars in high school because it gave me the image of a unique student who has above average grades and makes up for it with an array of academic activities.

The rest of the common app is a breeze besides that lingering monster that is the common app essay.

The common app essay is how I would describe a prompt that challenges you to make yourself look good. It’s what added personality to most of my application and it was a point where I had to show and not tell.

It was coming up with an answer to my prompt that was the biggest hurdle. I was stuck inside my room alone with only my thoughts amongst a pandemic. The isolation was making it hard to find a good idea.

I went to the beaches north of Malibu where only LA surfers and beach bums go, the differentiation between the two was little to none. The clashing waves and soft breeze were calming and it helped clear my head from all the overwhelming pressure of zoom school.

I concluded with an idea that I hope will have the college admissions officer say two things, “this kid can write” and “I like this kid”.

I decided to write about my transition from an English learning development student to an editor in chief for a newspaper. I used descriptive words of the rooms and people that were in my narrative, gave insight into what I was thinking and feeling at the time, and showed how I grew as a person.

The common apps can make a student’s blood curdle but after all the turmoil, a feeling of relief comes in knowing that you finally did your next step to college.