The Final Count Down

Right Now, 2009
The minutes are slowly draining from my hourglass that is the past four years of high school and once again I find myself in the same position as years before. I'm at the end of the line with no way to see what is to come. I mean, yes, I know that I am going to college next year, but it is the first time in my entire life that I will be truly on my own and now the same old questions come flooding back. How am I going to handle college? and most importantly, what is it going to be like??

College Application Check List:

1. Transcript Request Forms, $7 with 1st three free
2. Teacher Recommendation Forms, Three hours of deleting and rewriting
3. Send ACT Scores Via ACTstudent.org, ten minutes
4. Application Online, Forever
5. Supplemental Essays, Haven't Started
6. Any clue what to do next? Priceless

I know that it will be fine, (hopefully!) but I can't help worrying almost every night. I still can't believe that twelve years ago I was freaking out, thinking that I wouldn't be able to "do" school. Now, I'm freaking out, thinking that I may or may not be able to "do" college, but it's more of an excited worry than apprehension. I am worried, but I can't wait.

Too Cool For School

April, 2006
It was as if my life stopped after eighth grade. I had no clue what to expect, I had never been to High school and as far as I knew, it was a big mysterious part of my future that I knew nothing about.

The excitement rushed through me. No, it coursed through my veins. I could not wait to finally be done with junior high.

Ok so I lied, but only a little. The excitement wasn't coursing, it was more like a slow drip through my veins, it was my apprehension that was building. How was I going to handle all of my classes? Which ones should I take? How was I going to make it on time? Who was I going to be friends with, if I even had any? And most importantly, what was it going to be like???

"You can order a pizza to any of your classes, which by the way, going is optional, and you really only have to do your homework if you don't go to the class, otherwise, listening to what they say works best, kinda like college" Said my brother Matt, a junior, who liked to play on my fears of what was to come.

September, 2006
I don't know why I keep building my anxiety, high school was just like a bigger version of junior high. I was still friends with a lot of the same people as before as well as with some new people, the classes, just like every year of school, were only a little bit harder, even though Matt does like to play tricks on me, he did help me pick my classes, and my dad still drove me to school in the mornings. Now, don't get me wrong, it still was a big change from junior high, but it wasn't anything I couldn't deal with.

The Plunge

August, 1998
I was about to take a dive off a jagged cliff with a faulty bungee cord. Well, at least that's how I felt. As my parents sat across from me, rolling their eyes in exasperation, I tried to explain to them the terror that was starting the first grade.
"But I don't know how to do school!" I proclaimed
"That's the point Emily, you're going there to learn. Besides, you've already met Mrs. Hintz and you know a couple kids in your class, what's there to be scared of?"

Materials:

1. #2 Pencils (Assorted Colors) - Check
2. Loose Leaf Paper - Check
3. Little Pink Erasers (With Smiley Faces) - Check
4. Folders (With Flowers and Kittens) - Check
5. 64 Pack of Crayola Crayons (Sharpener Included) - Check
6. Confidence - ...

September 1998, 8:40 AM

As I made my way past the mural of children playing under a Robins Egg Blue Sky with fluffy white clouds wandering about, I could feel my palms begin to sweat. I was just a few short steps away from my doom. Pulling my compact pink backpack onto my shoulders, I took the plunge.

Five Minutes Later
It. Was. Not so bad. Actually, it seemed like it would be kind of fun. There was a teacher assistant to help you whenever you got stuck on something, some of my friends were there, you got to color a lot of the time, and most importantly, we got time to mess around with an assortment of brightly colored blocks and games. All of the stress and anxiety over what was basically another year of kindergarten with a little math and spelling thrown in. No big deal.