There’s a point in the year when college decisions start to define conversations, even if you’re not the one receiving them. Whether you’re in your top choice, waiting on decisions, done with the process entirely, a junior just starting to feel the pressure, or a sophomore realizing high school suddenly has an expiration date, this moment tends to pull everyone in. You don’t have to be a senior to feel it, but if you are, it’s hard to escape.
For me, and for many of my peers, life after college decisions has been filled with anticipation, but also uncertainty. There’s the joy of imagining what comes next, paired with the bittersweet reality of leaving high school life behind, and, for many, the anxiety of waiting for more decisions. Alongside our own reactions, there’s also the responsibility we feel toward each other: celebrating our friends’ wins wholeheartedly, sitting with them in moments of disappointment, and learning (sometimes awkwardly) how to do both at once.
One of the biggest things I keep thinking about is distance. Will we end up near the people we’ve spent four years with, or will we slowly drift into different time zones and schedules? The idea that friendships might shift because of geography feels uncomfortable, even if we know it’s normal.
The college process is also filled with comparison. Scrolling through college websites, looking at academic programs, majors, and opportunities, we compare the choices we are lucky to have. Inevitably, though, many will end up comparing themselves to those around them. That kind of comparison, however, I feel misses the mark on what the college process is: an individual search for fit, growth, and direction.
The hardest conversation, I’ve found, is the one you have with your family as you prepare to move away from the school, and for some, the family that has surrounded you for years. I try to remember that moving away from home, from familiar hallways and people who know you well, isn’t something you prepare for all at once. It happens slowly, through small moments, and hopefully keeping pleasant memories in mind as we transition out of high school. It also happens in our practical plans for the future: thinking about things like getting a driver’s license, dorm room essentials, shower caddies, bedsheets, learning how to do laundry properly, choosing a meal plan, managing money. Together, these things add up to something bigger than just moving away: responsibility.
Looking ahead, there’s a lot to be excited about. New environments, new people, new opportunities to do things that matter. The chance to learn more, challenge yourself, and see parts of the world you haven’t yet. There’s freedom, even if it comes with uncertainty.
The process isn’t over, and maybe it never really is. Even after decisions come in, there’s still so much future left to think about, and so much past to appreciate. For those of us still waiting on decisions, I think about something Dr. Neill told me: “These things have a way of always working out.”
When I asked him how, he said, “I don’t know, they just do.”
Image: Graded Instagram
