Ya' wanna know a scary phrase?
"College choice" *shudder*
It is so hard! I only applied to two colleges (Westmont and Biola--nobody criticize me. I have good reasons for both) and it was still soooo hard!!
Biola got back to me pretty darn fast. I got in with a $5,000 scholarship!! YAY! I only had one more acceptance letter from Biola left and I was IN. I was waiting for the Torrey Honors Institute to get back to me about my application. After weeks, and weeks, they finally did...with bad news. I was not accepted because they had too many students already.
I was
very sad, mad, discouraged, disappointed, and a little hurt. The only reason I applied to Biola, visited the campus, and invested a
lot of time sending my application in was to get into Torrey.
So! After crying, shredding the darn letter, and taking two weeks to mope around, I moved on. OCC (a local junior college) was next on the list for me. What about Westmont? Well, long story short, my hatred of huge tests helped the SAT kill me and I didn't do so well despite my grades. I never dreamed that anyone would even give me a second glance at Westmont.
After applying to OCC and researching their swim team info, I got a letter back from Westmont. It was thin-not an acceptance packet. It was a you've-been-put-on-the-waiting-list-because-we've-had-a-record-number-of-applicants letter.
I gave up.
Done with the waiting to hear back from colleges, I decided on not waiting until May 5th (at the time it was early April) to hear if I got off the wait list and accepted at Westmont and I was GOING to OCC. That was my plan. The end.
However, my darn mother had to step in. "We are waiting to hear back from Westmont and until then, we are making no college decisions". I was
irate. MY decision was made.
Convinced Westmont wouldn't even consider me and that OCC was in my future, I waited until May 5th to say "I TOLD YOU SO!!" to my mother. I was very wrong.
My wonderful counsellor (she seriously is the cutest thing) called me last Tuesday and left a voice mail message (I was in class). I called her back thinking "HA! This is the end!" and also fearful of what she was going to say. If I didn't get in, that means I failed at what my parents wanted me to succeed at. Bad. {Little side note--I HATE failing.}
"Hi, Kaitlin. I have some
very good news for you! You've been taken off the wait list and have been admitted at Westmont! Congratulations!! Also, I have even better news! You've been given a $10,000 scholarship!"
I asked her WHY
I would get a scholarship! I bombed the SAT for crying out loud!
She said my GPA (3.97 and it will be 4.0 at the end of the year-honors classes!) was enough.
WHAT?! Evaluate this for a second. I got in to the BEST Christian college on this side of the equator with $10,000--5K more than Biola gave me.
Of
course, I told her I'm in!!
So there it is! I am now an admitted Westmont student (well, come fall).
P.S. For all you Westmont alums out there, I'm thinking I might just stay in Page.
P.P.S. 3 months and 19 days until classes begin!
"Fact #1 Growing Up Without Shoes--in many developing countries, children must walk barefoot for miles to school, clean water, and medical help."
"Fact #2 Injury and Disease--hundreds of millions of children are at risk of injury, infection, & soil-transmitted diseases that most can't afford to prevent and treat."
Fact #3 Education and Opportunity--Children who are healthy are more likely to be sucessful students & access to education is a critical determinant or long-term success."
"Fact #4 A Better Tomorrow--healthy, educated children have a better chance of improving the future of their entire community."
He wanted to make sure he was in the picture. I think I got 'cha, Garrick. :)
"With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. ONE FOR ONE."
