By Catherine Montoya-Quiroz, staff editor
Senior year has been by far the most stressful school year that I have experienced. Although I have enjoyed hanging out with my friends now that I have the opportunity to do so in person, there is one thing that has been haunting me since the school year started: college decisions.
Ever since I started senior year, my parents have started to slowly up the pressure about college, and constantly questioned me about what I plan to do in the future. Although I understand that their concern came from a good place, their words only served to make me more nervous about the college application process. My doubts and fears of whether I would be accepted to any of my college choices led me to be extremely stressed during the entirety of the college application process.
To make the process a little easier, I looked for adult mentors to help me with the college application process. I was luckily able to receive support at the afterschool program that I attend. Additionally, I also used the resources offered at school from the JCYC staff at school. Thankfully, I was able to use a lot of Kristin’s assistance, especially when I had specific questions about the college application process. My adult mentor at SEADC (located in the Tenderloin) was also able to give me a lot of individualized help and even helped me with the FAFSA application.
With my mentors, I was able to apply to a number of different universities, including private schools, CSU’s and UC’s, that are local/close to San Francisco. But of all the universities that I applied to, I only really focused on updates from 2 schools; SF State and UC Davis. After I had submitted all of my college applications, all I had to do was wait for a response.
All of my effort and patience paid off. After waiting for months, I received all of my college acceptance notice notifications. Fortunately I was accepted to both SF State and UC Davis. I was ecstatic I had gotten accepted to my top 2 choices.
At first, I thought that the choice was obvious. UC Davis would clearly be the school I wanted to attend. The choice for me was obvious as they had the option for neuroscience as a major (they also have a great science department). However, I started thinking more, and realized that if I attend UC Davis, I would have to pay money out of pocket. But if I attended SF State, I would practically have everything paid for through my financial aid.
If I attend UC Davis, I would have to move away from my parents home and live on my own, giving me a big expense that I would have to pay for. On the other hand, if I were to go to SF State, I would not have to pay a cent or move out from where I am currently living.
The stress of making such a big decision was having a toll on me, making me a nervous wreck trying to figure out which school would be better for me in the long run. The nervousness I felt made me fidget a lot and start to stress clean, which is something that I tend to do when I am anxious or stressed.
As a first generation chicana student, generational wealth is not something that my family has. This means that I have to pave the way for any future generations that may come after me. Furthermore, I believe a degree is a degree, and it doesn’t matter which school I decide to go to as long as I earn a degree, and the effort and quality of the work I put in while studying . With this in mind (as well as the financial aid assistance), I finally decided that I will be attending SF State starting in the Fall of 2022.
I am looking forward to attending SF State, especially since most of my friends (and my sister) are going to be attending as well. I also look forward to meeting new people and making new friends, as well as exploring my academic interest in science. Now that I have chosen a school, I no longer feel that much nervous or anxious about what my future school will be. Instead, I feel an immense sense of relief now that I don’t have to worry about which school I have to choose.
