Breakaway

Yes, I went. No, I was not one who stayed up all hours of the night. (I headed for bed around eleven-thirty.) Sure, it was enjoyable.

Why is Facebook so interesting?

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Senior pictures

Got 'em taken yesterday. Went to an assisted-living community, believe it or not, that had a nice little pond surrounded by ducks, geese, benches, trees, and a small stone bridge. I liked the pictures, especially one where I was sitting beneath a tree, writing in my "journal" (actually a small copy of my favorite book, Pride & Prejudice), with the trees, tame life, pond, and bridge in the background.

Of course, one of my pics featured my wonderful gold acorn hat. I didn't look bad in it either. :-) I may wear this acorn hat on campus one day, and you will certainly know it when you see it!

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Resurrection and Introduction

My my, it's been awhile, hasn't it?

Well, fast-forward from what was last posted - I've finally stopped getting so much mail, and I sent in deposits and forms last week. It's off to the Ohio college!

And this week I'll be visiting the college for an overnighter, complete with college classes and chapel. Shall be interesting.

Oh, maybe I should introduce myself to all my future new friends - the ones that I don't have yet. Known as RS on the 'net, I try to keep my real identity hazy for security reasons. So, I actually won't ever mention the name of the college, the city, or my name, in these posts. But besides that, I can tell you a lot. I was homeschooled; I love to write (if a girl has two blogs and despises MySpace, it's almost a giveaway); and I also love to sing. Plus I will most likely miss my family a lot when I'm at college, so don't be surprised if I spend an hour a night e-mailing my mom. It's natural. :-)

I suppose April is a little early to start a blog for August, but I figured I might as well. There's certainly no harm in it.

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Neumont University

This was weird. After I thought I'd finally been rid of the college mail from remote and ineligible colleges, here comes yet another!

Friday (I think...) I received a letter from Neumont University in Utah. Apparently they're a computer tech college, whose bachelor's students graduate in two years. Interesting, no? (At least if you're going into software development.)

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Accepted in Ohio!

Received my second acceptance letter yesterday, from the college in Ohio. It came with a whole bunch of paperwork, but one particular yellow sheet was VERY interesting. It's the "room and roommate preferences" questionnaire, with questions about my noise tolerance, music tastes, and bedtime. (Choices: by 11, by midnight, by 1, or after 2. I guess I'll just have to pick by 11, since that's the earliest they give. I'll bet they have an "early to bed, early to rise" section of the dorm!) The oddest question was about my three top reasons for attending a Christian college (that's what it is): out of many options, three were "my parents urged me to", "dating", and "want to get out of the house". Interesting, no?

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Neglected

...as always.

I've been accepted, as I posted before, and am in the process of applying to two more colleges. I am *eligible* for a full ride at one, so there's a good chance I'll attend the college in Ohio. I'm also applying for a scholarship now, which requires about as much information as the college applications! Isn't that weird?

Oh, and I tossed nearly all my college letters last week. All, that is, but the ones from Harvard, Princeton, West Point, and a couple that I missed.

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One down!

I received today two letters from the Indiana college, which I applied to one week ago today: one acknowledging receipt of everything needed to apply, and one stating that--

I had been accepted already.

Also, I have been offered a combined scholarship which could amount to up to $8500. (About half tuition, I think.) The college hasn't sent me an actual enrollment form letter thingy, though, but just an "I'm strongly considering you" reply form.

We'll see what happens with the rest; I've just completed the online portion of the third application, this one to the Michigan college.

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An update... incredible!

Well, I sent in the applications last Monday. Two down, two to go! I'm working on the third - in fact, I'm nearly done with it (just have to finish the second essay that is required). Perhaps I shall share the "about me" essay, in case you are curious. It's in my conversational style, since that seemed to fit the topic and the "plot" (organization) best. My other essay will be more... scholarly, shall we say?

The essays for the other applications were easy. So easy, in fact, that I had to use an extra page for each application just to hold all that I wanted to say.

And now, for the "about me" essay.... it contains exactly five huntdred words, but it started out with well over 600. (It may have been close to 700, but I cut out quite a bit before I even typed it all up.)

If you want to learn about me, you must look at my bedroom door.

Now, this is no ordinary door. I have two maps stuck to the outer side: one of where I live and one of my home state, Ohio. There is also a small map, showing only the state’s counties; on the large one, I cannot find the counties among all the other information, despite (or perhaps because of) my visual mind.

On the other side of my door I’ve hung a bulletin board; its background picture of schoolbooks is entirely obscured by the papers I pin on it. My calendar is the most prominent. (I’m a nut for recording events.) Beside the calendar, a pushpin is poked through a schedule of church youth group events, which I attend faithfully. Below that, there hangs a page of notes from a particularly good lesson in youth group. It reminds me to keep myself free from the love of the world.

I recently posted some ideas for a school paper beside a list of writing contests and scholarship deadlines. Those two scraps of paper evince my fondness for writing. Another note about a college phone call confirms my aptitude for schoolwork. Pinned crookedly above the deadline list is an old volunteering schedule. I’ve forgotten to take it down – or perhaps I purposely left it up because the spot would look bare without it.

With all the schedules hanging up, you might have guessed that I have a melancholy temperament. You can also see that I take Christianity seriously; I want to become as Christlike as I can. And I’m sure you can tell that I love learning. Those are reasons I want to attend a smart, conservative college.

But to find what I want to do in life, you must look closely at my calendar. At the end of the month are written four capital letters, usually followed by a word like “business” or “community”. On the week before is a note: “7p 4-H”. These are the key.

I write monthly articles for a webzine called HSCX; each month, I am assigned one of the four article categories. I started writing for HSCX soon after I decided that I wanted to be a journalist. But I would never have discovered news reporting were it not for 4-H, where I have been my club’s news reporter several times. There, I found that I loved news writing. I want to learn excellent journalism skills in college, so that afterwards I will become a good news reporter. [This Michigan] College has a reputation for excellent academics and conservative values – just what I am looking for in a college. I think that [This Michigan College], by teaching me well, can prepare me to succeed in journalism. I’d like to write political or regional news, but my dream job is to be a full-time writer for WORLD Magazine. That dream, and the 4-H motto “to make the best better”, challenge me to keep trying harder and doing better.

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Pre-Thanksgiving mail

Sheesh! I leave the blog alone for a bit over a week and I have another folderful of mail!

The most recent was an Air Force ROTC brochure that I got yesterday. "If you think waiting tables to pay for college is difficult, what do you think about waiting tables after you graduate?" Nice. But no.

Got a postcard from a college near our winter vacation spot... a brochure from Antioch (it opens up into a poster?? Why?? And I don't think I'll go to Yellow Springs, OH for college... very involved in the occult.)... a bunch of scholarship info from Ithaca... an oversized brochure from Smith (women's college)... some more scholarship info, but this time from Patrick Henry... and, of course, the obligatory mail from colleges I saw at a college fair.

How in the WORLD did I get on so many NY colleges' mailing lists? (Other than the College Board stuff... that doesn't explain the disproportionate number from that state...)

Anyhow... I shall be mailing two applications this week... because, if I do, I don't have to pay the application fees. *grins*

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Opening the mail

I must now confess: notwithstanding the extensive practice I have had, I am still terrible at opening envelopes. Now, this doesn't seem to be a very remarkable defect, but when I cannot open an envelope without tearing it in half (or at least taking a good chunk off the stamp's corner), I say to myself... "why can't you just open an envelope like a normal person?"

On to the contents of these envelopes. I received another letter from Princeton today, saying that "the University prizes intellectual curiosity, creativity, and independent thinking." Very nice. They also have a professor there named Peter Singer. And they're on the coast. So I still say no.

Stony Brook also sent me a big brochure (big as in oversized - as thickness goes, it's only a fold-over thing) with another letter. And I got a very large postcard from a college in Michigan that I'm considering attending proclaiming its website.

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Mea culpa!

(And if there's a college named that, I did NOT get mail from it!)

Well, the last few weeks have been busy... so busy, in fact, that I scarce had time to get online, much less update any blogs... so I'll give you all (whoever reads this!) a rundown of the mail collected in my yellow folder since I last updated. At least, what I didn't lose; I may have overlooked one or two letters.

Just Friday I got a letter from Emery-Riddle Aeronautical University; never heard of 'em. Got a letter from West Point the day before! And the reply card was rather funny, in a weird sense: it states that the "public reporting burden for this collection of information" (which amounts to my name, address, and year of graduation!) "is estimated to average 5 minutes per response...." and goes on to tell you all the sort of legal disclaimers you find on a passport application!

Got a whole package from Indiana Wesleyan U.... a postcard from Tri-State U.... a note from Malone.... another letter from IWU.... a viewbook from Patrick Henry College.... a very large brochure from Ithaca College.... a small booklet from U. at Buffalo (why do I get so many letters from New York colleges???).... a letter about the honors program at U. of Michigan...

But I must digress. My neighbors (one little boy in particular!) would kill me if I went to Michigan. Remember, this is OHIO COUNTRY.

To return. I also got a note from Cedarville.... a large viewbook from Ohio State U.... a viewbook from Scripp (a women's college in California; I believe I recorded another letter from them earlier).... and a bit of a letter from Marietta College.

Thus I return for a short time; I may again next week, or next month. I cannot tell.

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Stony Brook yet again!

Received a letter 10/6/2006 from Stony Brook University (third one!), with an admission application and a viewbook. I finally figured out what SUNY means!!! Why does New York get its own acronym for its universities?

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Michigan again

Received an oversized postcard 10/6/2006 from University of Michigan. On the front it has a ton of names listed, and the back explains that they "are a few of the great thinkers and writers Honors students encounter each year" in one of their Honors courses. Amid the likes of Robert Browning, Frederick Douglass and Albert Einstein are listed Angela Davis and Paul McCartney. Apparently Davis was a sixties rebel, and McCartney needs no explanation. And they listed them all in alphabetical order. (Not that it's bad, but I'd prefer them to be by area, or by time period.)

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Stony Brook again

Received a letter 10/5/2006 from Stony Brook University with a big brochure included. The brochure unfolds so one side can be displayed as a poster. Why?

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Illinois Institute of Technology

Received a letter 10/3/2006 from Illinois Institute of Technology, with a reply envelope included. The bottom of this letter is the reply form, telling me to "get your RESERVED COPY of IIT's Innovative Application today!" It even has a username and password all ready for me to use. Well, at least a technology institute is making use of the most prevalent technology...

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Smith again

Received a visit brochure 9/29/2006 from Smith College. One visit day was the day before; the other is Veterans' Day. In Massachusetts. Yep. No can do.

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Buffalo again

Received a visit brochure 9/27/2006 from University at Buffalo. Very cute. It advertises a Fall Open House - scheduled for October 28th. Yet another case of a belated letter.

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Marietta College

Received a letter 9/27/2006 from Marietta College, with a reply card included. And guess what? If I returned the enclosed card, I'd "be eligible to participate in our Priority Early Application Process. As an early applicant, we will waive your application fee and guarantee you a decision by October 1st." Yah right. I'd return the reply card, receive an admission application, fill it out, send it in, be considered and get a letter back - all in three days. What a way to promise the moon....

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St. Vincent College

Received a brochure 9/21/2006 from Saint Vincent College. It's in Latrobe, PA. Dad said Latrobe was a beer brand!

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Harvard College

Received a letter and a financial aid reply card today (9/19/2006). From Harvard. Yep. Probably the crowning achievement - a recruitment letter from Harvard. Much better than the tiny postcard I received from Princeton, anyway, don't you think? But...

It's expensive, and it's in Boston. Need I say more?

Ah, I will anyway.The financial aid reply card is attached to a small info card that says: "Parents and families with incomes less than $60,000 no longer will be expected to contribute to their children's Harvard College tuition." Nice. And how am I supposed to pay for it? Just asking...

Anyhow: "Under separate cover, we will be mailing you a packet of material, including an application." I wonder if they'll waive the application fee too? Wouldn't it be fun to apply just to see if they'd accept me? (insert the sticky-tongue-out laughing face from AIM at this point)


Wow! There are fifty colleges in the Boston area?!?

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