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My College Journey - Jared Rush, Class of 2017 - Part 3

From the start of Upper School, my parents told me that I would go to college. And even though I knew it was on the horizon, I didn’t start seriously looking at colleges until my junior year. Like most of my classmates, I found one that resonated right away and fell in love with the idea of going there. Just before winter break, like many of my Ranney peers, I got in to my first choice school!
It’s a relief, an opportunity, and a sign that things are going to be changing soon.

Before I submitted my application, the college process occupied all of my thoughts and a lot of my time. It was like a child to me. In a way, I had both created and raised it. My college counselor, Dr. Accrocco, was its godfather. After a night of mania and rewriting a 300-word essay supplement that ended at 6:00 in the morning, I hit submit on my application and it felt as if I had sent my child off to college. Only this was worse, because this child might not go to college.

Everyone I knew was rooting for me and, even better, believed in me, which was a great and scary feeling. In a single day, my friends and I would talk about school options over lunch, standardized testing during study hall, and then in the senior lounge, or what we all the slounge, our afternoon conversations would turn to the tempting possibility of dropping out and becoming starving artists.

Whether any of it matters beyond the future color of our college sweatshirts is what we make of it. One thing that has stuck with me throughout this process is the idea that one can get a great education anywhere. For what it’s worth, the school doesn’t need to define one’s experience, but it’s a definite motivator. From the time I created my common application profile to the day I hit submit, I was constantly turning everything over in my mind, resulting in a lot of self-reflection.

The 43 days that followed (yes, I was counting) were spent ruminating on my application. My supplements sat untouched. Visits to other schools were forebodingly planned for after my early decision release. Even after watching my acceptance video, it took a while to finally hit me that I had gotten into college. Between hurting my face from smiling so much to desperately calling everyone like my child was missing, my goal had been reached, but also dissolved.
There’ll be plenty for me to do between now and next September but, for once, it’s not all wishful thinking. Right now, there’s the very real question of “what’s next?” Suddenly, my college essay questions seem a lot less complicated. 

What is next? Well, I went to my barber the other day to tell her the news about my acceptance and to get a men’s cut. After congratulating me, she suggested that I learn to cook, and so I’m going to learn how to make eggs and toast and perhaps a few other things with my mother. I’m also going to take time to thank everyone who knew me enough to believe in me. It is the college counselors, teachers, students, friends, family members, and Elizabethan playwrights who I feel indebted to—for they have given me the means, skill, and motivation to do all of this.

An alma mater at my future college once said, “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.” Since I don’t have to be sorry for letting anyone’s expectations down, it’s time to focus on the first four (and keep my grades up). 

Note: On March 4, 2017, Jared will represent Ranney in the English Speaking Union's Monmouth County Shakespeare Recitation Contest.

Read Part 1 of Jared's college journey testimonial series
Read Part 2 of Jared's college journey testimonial series
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.