Exciting things have been happening these past few months and I cannot stop thinking about them, one in particular is getting accepted into college, the first step to the rest of my life and there aren’t enough words to describe how thrilled I really am.

When I applied to New England College, I was confident that I would get accepted as I maintained mostly good grades my entire high school career. The following months were filled with nervousness while I anxiously waited for an answer. Surely enough I received a response and it was an acceptance. I was beyond ecstatic and a whirlwind of emotions came through. I started jumping with excitement and tears began streaming down my face.  I had just been accepted into my top choice school. It felt unreal, this couldn’t be happening to me, it was too good to be true.

Although I was on cloud nine, I had a sudden realization. I had to come up with the deposit money within a month’s time to hold my spot in the school, and accept the acceptance. A few hundred dollars is a lot of money to some, including myself, but it was worth it since I have a solid place at NEC.

The next realization I had with this acceptance was that the total cost of the school per year is roughly $51,000. By the time I’d graduate college I’d be drowning in debt. Or at least that’s what I thought. While I continued to read my letter of acceptance the school offered me a merit scholarship worth $92,000. My jaw dropped and that’s when the tears of joy started pouring down the side of my face. Without that scholarship I wouldn’t know how I would pay off my debts it would be nearly impossible. Receiving that scholarship showed me that keeping my grades high and trying my best at school every day is worth it.

Getting accepted and committing to college is a big step for any senior as it sets you up for the rest of your life. However, it made me realize that all these years of trying my best to keep my grades high and doing my work to the best of my ability paid off. In the end everything’s worth it, a college acceptance is just proof of that.