The college admissions process offers the potential for intense disappointment AND intense personal growth. The college process is always noisy, extremely volatile and often painful. Some of you will experience the feeling of being Snow White– a white knight rides up and snatches you up and away you go – off into the sunset to live happily ever after. Except that is not what is going to happen. Thank Goodness. Because real life - which did not start with the college admissions process but rather runs through the college process - is bumpy, fragile, triumphant, sickening, head-spinningly incredible, depressing, and characterized by moments of pure joy, useful contribution and, if you are lucky, ardent love.
No matter what the letter says, or will say - "Congratulations" or "We are sorry to say..." - the trajectory of your life is altered, but not by much. If you got your first wish, you will at some point in the future be bitterly disappointed. If you are disappointed now, I can tell you as sure as God made little green apples, that you will rejoice that the path opened as it did and not where you thought it should. Just give it time.
For those of us who get our first choice, it is an opportunity to practice humility and compassion; for those of us who will wait for a second or third choice, it is an opportunity to practice fortitude mixed with courage and self-confidence.
Another way of saying all of this is that your path has some obstacles. You will want to anticipate these challenges, and that is as it should be. But there is only so much you can do to prepare the path. In fact, what your teachers and parents and other loving adults in your life have been focused on these past 18years or so is not to prepare the path for you, but to prepare you for the path. In all honesty, no one can see what the path looks like past the first bend. You are prepared. You will find your way. The Way is Opening.
One other thing to keep in mind: no checking out early. The last couple of months of this school year can be amazing if you stay engaged, alert and vital.