Ask Acronym: College Season, the Reality of Senior Year, and Fly Dinner Dates

Ask Acronym is an advice column that answers anonymously submitted questions in a Q&A format. For this edition, the questions were received during first semester. I sincerely apologize for the delay on these responses. Due to the number of questions and length of responses, however, we’ve decided to release them in waves on a more consistent basis: 3-5 responses per week, rather than a dozen per month. That way, you can thoroughly read each response. Hope you enjoy!

Questions can be submitted at this form, anytime: https://tinyurl.com/askacronym2017

Thanks,

Madison Dong

How do I keep my sanity during college application season?
It was hard to answer this question as a senior going through the process myself. But looking back, I’ll try my best for current juniors and anyone who still has applications left.

College applications can be difficult because we’re just kids, really—many of us don’t know exactly who we are or where we’re headed. So when you’re writing essays in which you’re expected to sell yourself as a person, what do you do? How can you tell a college to accept you when you’re not even completely sure of who you are?

In that way, essays can drive you crazy. They can make you feel more lost than ever.

But to alleviate this, I’ll tell you what will help any situation: friends. Because sometimes there isn’t an answer, but you can rejoice in your lost-ness, and that will keep you sane. I apologize if that’s a little too generic, but I promise—everyone else is going through the same thing.

I feel like senior year should be this weird, almost perfect experience, but it’s not. I mean, I’ve got the quad, sports are going great, classes are amazing, everything I could expect. This is my last year on campus, but at the same time, it just feels like any other. I’d love to hear any thoughts, answers, or concerns of your own. Thanks, Acronym!
Senior year has that rep. It’s regarded as the pinnacle of the IMSA experience, the time when you don’t have check and can do anything—so when it doesn’t exactly live up to that, it feels like something is wrong.

I’m not an expert by any means, but maybe the perception of senior year is skewed. It’s hyped up so much, but maybe it feels like any other year because it is. Senior year is, in a sense, just like junior year, but without the previous seniors to guide you and without rolling check.

So maybe senior year isn’t about everything coming together or being on top of everything—maybe it’s about second chances. We make a lot of mistakes during our sophomore and junior years, and senior year is when we have all that wisdom under our belts. In a structural, day-to-day sense, it is like every other year. But what’s a second chance for?

It’s for doing things better—for being a better mentor to sophomores, for getting closer to others, for learning that one skill you always wanted to pick up, or anything else. We are continually growing. You’re a bigger person than you were junior year—and how you will use this second chance is completely up to you.

Who to ask on a dinner date?
This girl named Madison Dong is SO COOL and never says no to a dinner date.