Spring has come, and with it, life is growing, spirits are rising, and the sun is staying out longer than it did the day before. Sounds pretty great, right? It is, besides the fact that a virus that has shut down the entire world. If you’re a senior, your months-long stress has been building up to this time when you hear from colleges about the big question: Did you get in? 

Every senior has been coping with this struggle a little differently, and as such, two were asked what they thought of it. With regard to her process, senior Julia Chang says, “I have been dealing with stress by talking (or venting) with my friends who are in the same boat, distracting myself by trying to be productive, and constantly reminding myself that the decisions of a few random officers at some roundtable somewhere don’t define me and can’t determine my future.” Fellow senior Eric Leung has taken a different perspective, focusing more on his state of mind, stating, “The main thing I have worked on is my mindset going into the decisions — I’ve realized that the only aspect of the college process that I can control is my application, which I’ve already tried my best on. What the colleges ultimately decide is out of my control, and while that may initially be a scary realization, understanding that all I can do now is trust the process has lessened my anxiety for the decisions.” 

Both have quite differing opinions in regards to how the Coronavirus outbreak has impacted this time for them, with Chang saying the “Coronavirus has definitely made everything more stressful because, for one, I’m more often focused to pay attention to those negative thoughts, and secondly, I know I’ll ultimately have to choose my home for the next four years based on vague online information rather than tours and revisit days.” Leung had a much more positive outlook, saying “Honestly, the time at home that the quarantine has given me has allowed me to reflect more on the college process and be more thankful for the acceptances I’ve received and grateful to everyone who has helped me through the application process.” 

If there was one common outlook to bridge the two seniors’ mindsets together, it is that they both have come to the conclusion that what they have needed to get done has been done, and to dwell on it is futile.