Hey guys! I am not too sure where Olivia gets her prompts from but I decided to make my own! I hope this further contributes to the subreddit since I love the concept of journalingforgrowth and I know this prompt will definitely help me with my growth, so hopefully others agree.

For me, I wish I would have done more research into how to get accepted into my dream school. As I have spoken briefly of in replies on this sub, I have had dreams of going to a top tier school (UChicago and Harvard) since I was pretty young. The advice I was always given was to challenge yourself with an impressive AP course load and be well-rounded with lots of extracurriculares. Luckily for me - I thought - I was capable of taking challenging classes and I was used to being busy with different activities. So that is how I went on for over two years, until I met my boyfriend (whose alma mater, MIT, has been honored as the nation’s top university multiple times). When I brought up that I wanted to go to a top school, he gave me a book recommendation and told me that great universities don’t want burnt out kids that are jacks of all trades, masters of none. They want kids who have achieved feats that are unique and fascinating. Ever since that day, I regret not doing my own research and taking advice from anyone who gave it. Although this issue is hard to grapple with, I reconcile with it by knowing I was doing what I thought was right and that I made a lot of friends and memories in those activities. Besides the fact that the life I led was what I thought would allow me to achieve my goals, I also understand that if I wanted to be practically certain I would get accepted at one of my dream schools, I would have never experienced some of my favorite high school memories. BOA marching band competitions, Madrigals and other choir events, swimming and learning to dive, being in the spring musical - these events may not be the unique and fascinating feats that elite admissions officers are interested in, but they were fun experiences that I will never forget. And not to mention, high school is only once, and also a scientist’s graduate school degree matters more than the undergraduate degree. So no matter what college I go to, I can start researching how to get into an impressive graduate/PhD program today!

If you made it to the end, thank you! And you deserve a cookie because a lot of this ended up being stream of conscious writing, and helped me remember that every situation is what you make of it.