As juniors
and seniors in high school, we are all familiar with the most popular,
interesting conversation topic according to adults: College. Starting junior
year, every time I was catching up with one of my parents’ friends, a more
distant family member, or even meeting someone new, the first or second
question the adult always asks is, “So what colleges are you looking
at?” Sometimes they even ask, “Where are you going to college?” even though I
still haven’t applied to half of my schools. Towards the beginning of junior
year when I was asked this, it wasn’t terrible. The adults didn’t really expect
a big answer back then, and I hadn’t talked about it much so it was still fun
for me to discuss as well. By the summer before senior year I’d gotten these
questions dozens and dozens of times (not even close to an exaggeration) and it
was not as fun to talk about anymore.
There have
been nights where I’ve answered questions like this 5 or 6 times throughout the
evening. I see my mom’s friends once or twice a month, and every single one of
them manages to ask me every single time about college. It’s their favorite
thing to talk about one-on-one and in big groups. I try my best to not be
repetitive in my answers, but that’s hard when I only have one true answer and
it’s, “I don’t know.” I know this post sounds like a lot of complaining, but I
don’t really mean it that way. I appreciate that the adults in my life want to
know about my future! The problem is that I don’t know anything about my
future, so I can’t really answer their questions without sounding like I’m
completely lost in life.
After my
first time getting more than five college-related questions in one evening, I
decided to start mixing my answers up. It gives the conversations variety and
an actual direction, rather than just me trailing off and walking away. One
family friend thinks I’m going into animal science, my uncle thinks I’m
majoring in neuroscience, and one of my mom’s friends thinks I’m majoring in
biology, to name a few. I really am interested in all of these things, maybe I
will end up majoring in one of them or also possibly majoring in none of them!
But pretending I know what I’m doing helps me not dread grown-up social events
as much and makes me feel like I actually have some direction (when in reality
I don’t)!
This is hilarious. I am doing this from this point onwards.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good idea!
ReplyDeleteI will probably copy your method once everyone starts asking me these questions because I had #noidea what to do with my life.
Hahah incredible, I love it. I know you know that I changed what my preferred major is in the middle of writing multiple college applications, because reality is, our minds can change so easily. We are all still so young and always learning, so it's so important to keep our minds and hearts open to all the possible fields of study out there - just as you do!! <3
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cute post and a great idea. I got sick of adults asking me about college around sophomore year, so these kinds of strategies are super important. I'll be sure to use it the next time someone is like 'sO whErE aRe yOU gOiNG?"
ReplyDeleteOh this is so fun! I don't think you're being too complain-y about those questions. I'm tired of them too. I do have sympathy for the adults asking them because I also ask dumb questions that are possibly in poor taste when I don't really know a person. Their hearts are in the right place, I guess. It's a great idea to mix it up and make an actual conversation out of something that normally might just end in awkward silence.
ReplyDeleteI applied to four different majors at various universities and I never want to explain that when someone I don't know well asks me about it. So, now I just pick one of them and roll through the whole conversation like that. suddenly instead of "well I might do this or this or that" I can just concisely (and somewhat fakely) state "I'm gonna major in biomedical sciences and I'm cool cause I like bio and I like medicine and I like sciences." It's a life saving method.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly getting asked about college and I am not looking forward to the conversations Senior year. I like to think I know what I'm doing but I really don't. I like how you have fun with the conversations and don't just stray away from them. Great post Glo and wishing you luck for future college conversations.
ReplyDeleteThis is a genius idea! People definitely make the application process needlessly more stressful by constantly asking about it. Having a bit of fun and trolling people who do that is a harmless and fun way to relieve a lot of that stress.
ReplyDeleteIf only applying to colleges was as interesting as the rest of the world thinks, it would make these conversations so much easier. But way to make the best out of a poor situation. One of my methods is to divulge into a grand speech about how money doesn't equal happiness, and college doesn't interest such a free, radical thinker like myself.
ReplyDelete