Last Wednesday I tripped over my ukulele on a midnight ice run and broke my wrist. Moving on...
I have been working on college apps this entire month and I feel no closer to finishing. I've written 10 drafts of 3 different essays and am still unsatisfied - not to mention the 11 supplementary essays for specific colleges. Plus I'm taking a trip to Philadelphia to interview at Haverford and Swarthmore and I am unusually nervous. School's not in session, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get a feel for the atmosphere between students, in the classroom, etc. And it reminds me that I will be making my decision while I am abroad and won't have had a chance to visit 5 of the schools to which I'm applying.
In other news, my studying of Latvian is plodding along. I know my numbers to 900 (I learned up to the thousands but forgot it, apparently), colors, and am attempting to build a basic vocabulary of survival verbs. I have also mastered the locative case (I think)! Here is the first paragraph (and the first sentences) I have ever written in Latvian:
Sveiki! Mani sauc Allie. Es esmu sešpadsmit. Es dzīvoju Kalifornijā, bet tagad es dzīvoju Valmierā. Man patīk teātris, havajiešu ģitāra, lasīšana, un piekārtiem ar draugiem. Es runāju angļu, spānu, un krievu valodā. Es studēju latviešu valodā.
Translation: Hello! My name is Allie. I am sixteen. I lived in California, but now I live in Valmiera. I like theatre, ukulele, reading, and hanging out with friends. I speak English, Spanish, and Russian. I am studying Latvian.
I have been working on college apps this entire month and I feel no closer to finishing. I've written 10 drafts of 3 different essays and am still unsatisfied - not to mention the 11 supplementary essays for specific colleges. Plus I'm taking a trip to Philadelphia to interview at Haverford and Swarthmore and I am unusually nervous. School's not in session, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get a feel for the atmosphere between students, in the classroom, etc. And it reminds me that I will be making my decision while I am abroad and won't have had a chance to visit 5 of the schools to which I'm applying.
In other news, my studying of Latvian is plodding along. I know my numbers to 900 (I learned up to the thousands but forgot it, apparently), colors, and am attempting to build a basic vocabulary of survival verbs. I have also mastered the locative case (I think)! Here is the first paragraph (and the first sentences) I have ever written in Latvian:
Sveiki! Mani sauc Allie. Es esmu sešpadsmit. Es dzīvoju Kalifornijā, bet tagad es dzīvoju Valmierā. Man patīk teātris, havajiešu ģitāra, lasīšana, un piekārtiem ar draugiem. Es runāju angļu, spānu, un krievu valodā. Es studēju latviešu valodā.
Translation: Hello! My name is Allie. I am sixteen. I lived in California, but now I live in Valmiera. I like theatre, ukulele, reading, and hanging out with friends. I speak English, Spanish, and Russian. I am studying Latvian.
Posts
July 24, 2010 at 8:25 AM
Wow, that second paragraph was like...my life! I forget if I've commented here before, but I'm going to Germany for what is technically my "gap year," except that it was supposed to be my senior year, so I'm also playing the college game right now. I've done most of my visits this summer, so the only place where lots of students were present was Middlebury, and most of them had taken a vow not to speak English, haha.
I did an interview at Swarthmore too, and I loved it there. I'm not leaving until September, so I'm just getting into the essay writing...not so fun.
Where else are you applying, out of curiosity?
Margaret
July 24, 2010 at 10:19 AM
July 31, 2010 at 6:49 AM
okay, we definitely have some similarities here! The actual schools are different, though, which is funny. The rest of my list as of right now is Wesleyan, Williams, Brown, Tufts, Oberlin, Davidson, Macalester, Yale, and SUNY Binghamton. It's amusing, though, because I can't really explain why I'm applying to, say, Williams and not Amherst. I love the town of Amherst a lot; my mom just happened to suggest that we visit Williams. Who knows. I also want to apply to St. Andrews, and I was planning on applying to Grinnell but I'm unsure about living in the middle of Iowa for four years. I hear they have a great endowment though, haha.
So yeah, I'm basically hoping to apply to schools I like (and get a better safety or two...maybe Clark or American?) and submit the applications in August if possible and then forget about it until spring and choose based on financial aid, haha. And of course, I know that plenty of the choices will be eliminated for me. (Yale? ha!)
anyway, while I'm already making this comment ridiculously long, I have to say that the way college seems to monopolize every single discussion these days has not escaped my notice. So, here are other things I'm curious about: When exactly are you leaving for Latvia? How long have you been playing ukulele? Are you bringing it with you?
Margaret
August 2, 2010 at 6:55 PM
Ah - I somehow deleted my previous comment! But at least the two of us know you're not talking to yourself, haha. Most of your schools were on my original list - Wesleyan, Oberlin, and Macalester were some of the last to get cut. Like you, I don't really have reasons why I'm applying to Grinnell and not Oberlin and things like that... but I don't want to have to go back and rehash my list, haha. I'm doing the exact same thing as you - applying now, forgetting about it all year, and seeing where I get money!
Now that the Common App is online I feel SO much more on top of things - I've still got a long way to go, but I've got most of my supplements finished, as well as most of the Common App. My only problem is deciding which essay... I've written so many and every time I think I find the perfect one, I think the one I wrote last time was better, etc.
Anyway, now I'm ranting! I'm leaving in 16 days (!)... I saw that you've got a long while to go - in the 40s, is it now? It's so funny, I remember when 3 months was like, "Oh my gosh exchange is so near!" and now I'm not even counting in weeks, because 2 just seems too short. I need to go by days, haha.
I've been playing the ukulele for about a year now. It's the best!! But not being able to play with my wrist has been torture. I'm bringing it with me because apparently they're hard to find in Latvia. Unfortunately that means I won't be able to bring a smaller carry on suitcase on the plane with me. Grr.
August 8, 2010 at 6:46 PM
Yeah, having the Common App up definitely makes me feel more productive! Even if I don't have a personal essay yet, at least I've done the other half of the application...albeit the easier half, but I'll take what I can get! Some of my schools don't have their supplements up yet, which is irritating, but is not a good excuse to not write my other supplemental essays, haha.
Down to ten days! That's wild. I'm finally in the twenties, haha. Once again, I'll take what I can get...there is plenty to do between now and then. Have you started packing and whatnot yet?
and the broken wrist seems like a huge hassle! How long will it be in a cast? I actually just started playing ukulele, because my instruments (tuba and cello) are way too big to take with me to Germany, and I couldn't stand the idea of not playing music for a year so I decided to find something affordable and transportable. I'm really excited about it! I'm actually not too worried about the carry-on situation, though, because I've found that pretty much every time I travel, I bring much more in my carry-on than I actually use. Hopefully I'll be able to allocate my space wisely and it'll work out fine!
Where's your gateway orientation?
August 13, 2010 at 10:16 PM
Yeah, I’ve got into a half-done hump: I have the easy parts done, but all of my essays - ALL - are half done. Usually editing and writing the last couple paragraphs/sentences is the easy part, but apparently I have become lazy.
Oh gosh… I haven’t even started! Well, I have… I’ve been separating my clothes into want-to-take and want-to-leave, but I’m freaking out about not having enough space and/or time.
I actually just got it out of a cast, so I’m splinted now and can play again :) That’s fantastic - another ukuleist! (I think I just made that up, but that’s okay.) I’ve never played an instrument before - I used to kind of freestyle on our piano when we had one, and my mom recorded a couple and it was actually pretty cool, but I never could actually play anything. Did you get a travel uke or a regular one? When I discovered that they made travel ukuleles I thought it was rather redundant, given that they’re already tiny.
My gateway’s in New York… I think it’s all kids going to Northern Europe. I know there’s one other American going to Latvia, so I’ll have a travel companion during my 8 hour layover. He’s on CS and AFS never told me, but I found out from the AFS Latvia site. I feel kind of like a stalker, haha. Is your gateway in New York too?