You know what I’m really tired of hearing about? College. Which is ironic, because I’m writing about it, because I don’t want to hear it anymore, if that makes sense.

For a long time I have been unable to answer most of the questions surrounding the subject.How are you going to get into college? Do you think they will like that?

But recently it occurred to me that the answer was really quite simple: I really don’t know, and I don’t really care.

Easier said than done, I know, but think of it this way. You get exactly one life to live (last time I checked, but who really knows), so why waste a good portion of it shaping yourself into the person that some admissions officer a million miles away would want you to be? I am a human being. I am not an SAT score or a GPA or an extracurricular. I need to sleep to be healthy, I need to eat to have energy and I need to take some time for myself beyond studying to stay mentally sane.

I am not a machine. I get things wrong. I am imperfect. So why try to cover these parts of myself to get into a school where I will have to continue to be a person I am not?

So to any freshmen out there: stop pretending to be someone you are not; acknowledge that you are a human. I promise you’ll set yourself up for a much happier next eight years of your life if you do so.