All New England college brochures look the same—every single one is filled with pictures of trees in autumn, the colors explosively bright. They must know that here in the Midwest, our falls simply cannot compare. Still, a little originality would be nice. After all, they ask students to describe what makes us different.
“Can you believe this time next year, we will be in college?” My friend asks, eyes bright. She cannot wait to “escape” New Trier, as she puts it.
“No.” I say, flatly. The concept makes no sense to me—I can’t wrap my head around it. I can’t bring myself to believe I will actually go to college some day.
My mom is frustrated with me again.
“Alexa, I feel like I am doing all the work here. The college counselors say that you should be taking charge of the college application process.”
“I know, Mom. I am. I just have so much to do.” I was doing homework as we spoke, my mond only half on her speech.
“So what’s the deal, then, Alexa? Don’t you even care where you go to college?”
LCAE Draft 6
Have you ever drafted something so many times that you take the spirit out of it, because you can’t even remember what you originally meant to say?
Theory Two:
Maybe I look at the Naviance scattergrams because the little thrill of panic I get when I look at the GPA averages jump-starts me into action for a while, driven by my fear of not getting accepted into the college of my choice.That thrill of fear motivates me to get things done . . . for a time.
I’m so tense my hands are shaking as I enter the office, searching out my teacher.
“Mr. Rosenberg?” I say. My voice is a little quavery, but I’m too tense to feel embarrassed.
“Yes?”
“Um. . . I was wondering if you would be willing—I mean, if you would be comfortable writing me a recommendation for college.”
I don’t think it took him more than a second to respond, though it felt like a week.
“Sure. I’ll write you a great one.” I let breath out in a huge gasp of air.
“Thank you!” I barely hear what he says next—I am positively dizzy with relief. Later, looking back, I feel like a total moran. How could I get so uptight about speaking to a teacher?
I guess I was scared he would turn me down.
Hey guys-- still kind of unsure what question I'm actually trying to answer. Hopefully I'll figure it out this weekend. . .
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Maybe you're trying to answer if you're ready to leave home yet? I like where it's going though.
ReplyDeleteI was a little confused by the structure of this sentence:
Maybe I look at the Naviance scattergrams because the little thrill of panic I get when I look at the GPA averages jump-starts me into action for a while, driven by my fear of not getting accepted into the college of my choice.
maybe you want to say:
Maybe I look at the Naviance scatter-grams because of the little thrill I get when I look at the GPA averages. It's less of a thrill than a panic, but never the less, it jump starts me into action for fear of not getting accepted to college.