By Priya Desai
Staff Writer
@priusdasani

Some seniors know exactly what college they want to go to. Some apply to five or six schools for variety…I was a little different.

Last fall, I applied to 16 schools. When I told people, they thought I was both crazy and somehow a millionaire.

I was one of those, considering I questioned why I would endure the many essays I had to write and all the forms I had to fill out.

Out of the 16, three were for schools with an undergraduate class of more than 5,000 students, and the rest were tiny liberal arts schools in towns so small that most of them were named after the school. That is where I was sure I wanted to go mostly because of the way people described liberal arts schools: small classes, beautiful campus (most with some type forest within walking distance) and usually random person spouting poetry in the cafeteria.

So that might be a bit ostracized, but I always imagined myself in that kind of small community. Well I am proud to say I will be attending a university in the middle of a metropolitan area with about 10,000 undergraduates.

Surprised? So am I.

This year has been full of unexpected choices that have brought me to learn new things about myself.

When I had an open elective this year, I could have taken an off period like my friends or a blow off class that I knew then would just be a waste of time with an easy A. Instead, I decided to explore a new activity that had always been in the back of my mind: journalism. By joining The Sidekick I found my love for finding the stories underneath all the frenzy and excitement of media.

I would have never thought to join newspaper in my senior year when I was a freshman, but man has it made an impact on my life. Now I’m planning on double majoring in both political science and journalism.

Even though journalism is fairly new to my life, music is not as it has been a constant piece of who I am. I have been in choir since third grade and it is no surprise that I was involved in it all throughout high school. While choir has given me a musical background that I would not give up for the world, I also unknowingly came out of the program learning that hard work really does pay off.

That seems like something you could learn in any elective or class with grades or an award at the end of the year, but it’s much different than having to learn a formula for a class or perfect an essay for a project. It is constantly working on making something more artistic, not just making it perfect.

Classes in high school have been difficult but senior year has really done a number on me. From the dozens of applications I did to my eight period day I really did have no time to breathe and honestly through all the struggles, I absolutely loved it. Because I decided to take unexpected classes and dive even deeper into the ones I was familiar with to learn I was able to learn more about who I am and how I function.

I am grateful that I was that girl deciding to always be busy because in the end it gave me things that I would have never been able to appreciate if I slacked off this year. I would have never fallen in love with the university I will be attending next year, and I would have never met the people I did and formed that relationships I cherish without the insanity that was my senior year of high school.