Everyone's favorite sugary, zero-regret holiday just recently passed away, but with happiness came sadness: The first college deadline, November 1, came and went just as fast.
Senior year is an exciting, yet stressful time. You have to balance everything college-related while trying to simultaneously live out your final days of high school. So what was I supposed to do about Halloween if I had college work to finish? Tough decisions had to be made.
At my school, the last week of October is our school's Spirit Week. Pajama Day and USA Day are all fun and all, but the real kicker is always Halloween. While Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were all fun and you could change up your wardrobe just a little bit, Halloween is the day that you can really do what you want. (Obviously obliging to your school's dress code and rules, of course!)
Since senior year has infiltrated my bloodstream, my Halloween celebration this year was to go all out. I'm talking about huge costumes and elaborate accessories, and hey, maybe even playing out the character of the costume. (I'm was a monkey for Halloween so maybe I tried to rely on monkey noises to participate in class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Didn't work. Hashtag #seniors14.) But amidst all the fun that the school day on the 31st brought, it was the night of Halloween that had me troubled.
On Halloween this year, the college deadline was the next day. A good student on this day would be in love with their essays, have all their scores sent, and have already smacked the submit button straight into the undergraduate admissions offices.
Um.
While I'm not going to call myself a bad student per se, I will say however that what I succeeded in procrastination, I had to make up that week in hard work. I was not completely in love with my essays. I still needed to review what scores had actually been sent. I wasn't even allowed to see the submit button until everything on my application is inserted.
No need to freak out at me, I've got that part handled. However, what any procrastinator will know is that good quality work can still be produced within the certain time limits given. I had the rest of this week to perfect my applications for November 1st. I know that my work ethic can be sharpened and used to produce the best applications I can for this deadline. But the bigger problem still remained: Trick or treat?
Was I to keep the mentality in my head that the deadline is secretly October 31 at 11:59 p.m. or should I have let the truth come out to myself that the deadline is pushed to November 1st at 11:59 p.m.? I had two thoughts on November 30: I could, technically, go trick-or-treating for the last time in my entire life (most likely), and then submit my applications on November 1st. Or I could rush everything on the 31st and submit it before I leave to go knock on some doors. Or as adults would probably warn me, "Seniors in high school don't go trick-or-treating. You're going to college next year."
Thanks. That's kind of my issue here.
I've tried imagining the next time in my life I'll knock on somebody's door holding out a bag to collect candy. Frightening enough, the only time I could think of is when my future children go trick-or-treating. Kind of puts life in perspective, doesn't it?
The question was still there: deadlines or candy? Candy or deadlines? While I knew deep down what the answer really should have been, I'm decided to go with deadlines on this one. I'm pretty sure skipping out on the trick-or-treating this year will impact me less in 10 years' time as opposed to not applying to college at all. So here's a moral to take away with you today kids: don't procrastinate. You've heard this time and time again; but just take it from me, a high school senior who seriously just contemplated the even the slightest probability of actually going trick-or-treating instead of submitting college applications, that the long-term effects majorly outweigh the short-term effects. Sure, I missed out on a couple of king-sized Twix and Crunch bars, but the only "crunch" that really mattered to me was my crunch on time to get my applications in.
Happy Halloween everyone, and good luck seniors!