Making Decisions is Hard
Admissions decisions are out. There is a joke there that you'll only get if you know that that gif is from You've Got Mail, the finest of the three Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romantic comedies, and one of my all time favorite movies. I simultaneously began this post with a relevant gif of how I would look if I were Tom Hanks right now (which would be pretty stellar, no lie), as well as the basic fact of the text, followed by the fact that to have received an admissions decision, you must in fact have mail. So basically, I'm cool, I use gifs, and you should be impressed with me. It's all so meta, your head probably hurts right now.
So, hey. Let's take this gif filled journey through what happens once you're into a bunch of schools, and maybe, unfortunately, not into all the schools you wanted. (With a non gif surprise at the end!)
You're probably stressed right now. (I am too! School can be hard! That's why I'm finding all these hilarious gifs instead of doing homework!) Not everybody naturally and automatically knows where they're going to college or which of the schools they were admitted to is the right one for them. The week after I got my acceptances/rejections, my high school hosted a Dads and Grads brunch and a whole bunch of people showed up in t-shirts for the colleges they had chosen, and the rest of the people showed up in business casual. My dad and I were in Disney t-shirts. Three weeks later, I still hadn't decided, and on Field Day, all seniors wear their college t-shirts. Fortunately, we had a solution for that too. Check out the t-shirt I'm sportin' in the picture on this post. No idea why I'm smiling so big when I'm as confused as I was.
I had no idea where I was headed to school, and I didn't think I'd ever know, and that confusion does not immediately dissipate when you do make your decision. You'll be confused for months. You might be confused when you start Tufts in the fall. You might be confused when you start at another school in the fall. You might be confused late into your freshman year, and start to wonder if transferring is right for you. It might very well be. You might be confused when you're homesick the first semester of your sophomore year, and suddenly, you wish you had chosen a school in your home state. And you might stay confused until one April night in the spring of your sophomore year, when you're stressed out of your mind, you have more work than you've ever had before (totally my fault for taking seven courses though), and you're writing a blog for future Tufts students because you love Tufts, and suddenly, maybe your decision isn't confusing at all. All of those have happened to me. And I can tell you that there is a chance that I will wonder if Tufts is right for me again in the future, but I know that most of the time, including tonight, I am so happy to be here, surrounded by friends, excited about learning.
So what if you're checking out this blog because you're not sure you want to go to Tufts? You will figure it out. And you might choose the other school, but I promise, I'll still love you. You're making this decision, not me. Maybe you didn't get in to Tufts. I got rejected from quite a few schools, including my top choices, and I know I must have been devastated at the time, but all of the sudden, I can't remember that. I remember the acceptances. SMFA was the first, Tufts was the last. There were a few in between.
When one of my friends got rejected by Northwestern in the fall of our senior year, she said "I feel bad saying this, but I'm kind of exited about all the other schools I'll get to apply to now." That's not just something she was saying. She was legitimately excited by her future and the world of opportunity that a rejection can make available to you. (If you want to talk rejection and options, head on over to Rachel's post. It's inspiring.)
So you know what, whether you feel like this or you feel like this. (In which case, know that you are incredible, and you are good at things, and that college decisions are confusing, and that they do not define you as a person or your worth. You are fantastic.)
The most important thing to do is remember to breathe! Take a minute and a break from thinking about decisions. Later, you can make charts of pros and cons with your older siblings and parents. Ask everyone you know for help, that's what I did. Read all of the lists of rankings and disregard them. Consider the programs you want and which schools offer them. If it's a viable option, visit and feel the campuses out now that you're a prospective student. If it's not, take a virtual tour. Choose a school, and if you regret the decision immediately, rechoose. Consider financial aid. Then maybe ignore all of that (except financial aid, that's pretty important) and choose the school that is the right fit for you and your higher education experience. Or not. That's how much this decision is yours, and nobody else's.
I'm going to go so far as to give you your breather. Some people asked me to post more animation on my last post (JellyCat!) and I've gone even further. I have made my demo reel, which features at least 75% of the animation I have done this school year. It's like a resume for animators. I'd like you to check it out! Enjoy it! Tell me what you liked, what you disliked. Or just let your eyes do something other than stare at College Confidential for days on end. (Or you know, send it to all your animation executive friends and tell them to hire me as a summer intern.)
Demo Reel Spring 2013 from Jehan Madhani on Vimeo.
Or tell me about how you're struggling with your college decision. Ask me for help. Ask me why I chose Tufts. Ask me about making that decision. Ask me why you should come to Tufts. Ask me about moving to Massachusetts from Texas. About the Combined Degree. About SMFA courses. About Tufts courses. About dorm life. About my extraordinarily nerdy social life. About Quidditch. About the ExCollege. About my non-existent love life. (Seriously, ask me questions. My email is in the Demo Reel.) Feel free to talk about it in the comments! Let's work it out together. Maybe we'll get a discussion going!
Love,
Jehan