Things I Would Tell Younger Me

As you all know, college prep is upon me now. I am starting to dive into the enormous lake called "COLLEGE ADMISSIONS". It's a very scary place! And I'm discovering different little things I should have started preparing for one to two years before. I am not bashing my parents, but I have basically home schooled myself since 8th or 9th grade with the exception of scheduling, buying books, and occasional school exercises help. I haven't done to badly...I'm proud of what I have accomplished in that time with God's help. Buuuut, there are some things I totally wish I knew when I was younger and had time.

1. Do things. (Hehehe. -_- Don't laugh at me.) I don't know if you're socially awkward or if you're really talkative, but I'm definitely socially awkward. You wouldn't believe how long it took to get me to where I am today, which is-- I can talk with people I don't know reasonably well. Soo...that was way off topic. Sorry. Do activities outside of school like volunteering, sports, or art classes. Colleges, especially really good ones, are crazy about extracurricular activities. They also like it if you concentrate on two or three instead of ten. Me? I got nada here. Hey, I'm an introvert, okay?

2. Plan for letters of recommendation in advance. Usually letters of recommendation cannot be by a relative. And the more prestigious you go in colleges, they'll probably tell you that the letters can only be from "academic teachers". Colleges also emphasize wanting to get to know you and prefer that the recommenders know you for a good little bit of time. This is where dual-enrollment comes in. I know me as a home schooler never did anything school-related outside of what I did at home (thus, the name "home school"). That was a slip-up. If you can, take dual-enrollment classes. In my state, you can start in your junior year, which is probably what I should have done (I also was enrolled under an umbrella school which made it a ton easier for applying for dual enrollment). Right now I am enrolled in a Composition I class at my local community college, but I am applying for a college that requires two letters of recommendation by January 1 which is somewhat problematic for me. If you have any suggestions, please comment. 

3. I don't really have any experience with the "pure homeschooling" type because my parents joined an umbrella group just before I started 9th grade so that I wouldn't have to do state-testing. My grades get sent to the group, my ACT scores got sent to that group, and it provided official transcripts and will provide (when I graduate) a High School Diploma. 

4. Push yourself to do things you don't really feel like doing. I have three personal examples :) 

#1 Two years ago, on summer vacation, we were staying at a hotel with a pool. The deep end was something like 8 1/2 feet. Now let me tell you something-- I am scared of deep water and I am only around five foot four (back then I was even shorter). But I made myself jump into the deep end several times. I'm still scared of deep water, but I have a sense of accomplishment because I made myself do something that I was scared of. 

#2 On the same summer vacation, we were at a beach. And neither my cousins or my sister (who were all there) is afraid of water. At all. They had all rented boogie boards and were out having fun in the ocean. And I was like "That looks like fun!" then "But the water is so scary." Guess what? I finally decided to go and I had a great time. However, I did leave the huge/nasty waves by the wharves (I'm not sure if that's the right term) to my guy cousins ;) 

#3 I signed up for a college class on campus. Yaya! Yes, I'm talking about what I'm doing right now. Guys, you do not know how much it freaked me out to do that. But here I am :) Going every Thursday, doing well, and not minding it too much (people interaction still worries me). 

These may not seem like big things, but they were for me. And you may have little/big fears of things that you think other people think are silly. They might think it's silly (or they might pretend to think that because they have their own fears), but it's not. Fears are fears. If you get over them, push through them, you have won a personal victory that you should be proud of. No matter how many socially-at-ease, afraid-of-nothing, good-looking people you are surrounded by. You are you. And you is awesome the way you is.

                                                       Let's Go Get'em Together,

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