This month marks the beginning of college application deadlines for high school seniors around the nation, and conveniently, scholarship application opportunities are also fast approaching. Students are required to juggle extracurricular activities, homework and tedious application processes in order to ensure for themselves a position at a university in the fall of next year. Students ages 17 and 18 are forced to examine exactly what they have accomplished and endured within their long-spanning lifetimes.

For my early decision application, I was asked to write an essay conveying a sense of who I am, discussing anything from experiences that have shaped my life to my most meaningful intellectual achievement — in 250 to 500 words.

As my hands sat motionless over the keys of my computer, I almost regretted my picturesque family, innocent childhood and middle-class upbringing. Unfortunately, I have fond childhood memories of backyard football with my brothers, sledding in the winters, decorating the Christmas tree and staying up late for summer solstice. I have had few obstacles to overcome in my short life, and I knew anything that did mark a significant time in my life would pale in comparison to all the applicants who had overcome difficult obstacles. Could the time my mother was late picking me up from school possibly be converted into a loss of childhood innocence through the realization that I alone could be counted upon for success in my endeavors? What exactly is an intellectual achievement? I had memorized the multiplication table in sixth grade, and I know any advancement in math would have been extremely difficult without it, but did it have to be something I had personally discovered? I rarely sit down outside of school to analyze genetic mutations and further my knowledge about rare diseases, and I must confess that I prefer a television to a textbook.

Gradually, my sentiments regarding the essay changed from anxiety to frustration. I was applying early decision to a college in the middle of New York City specifically for the experiences the application was asking me to describe. The essay prompts  scholarships and applications that are premature for high school students who are barely turning 18; the expectations are for us to be already experienced in the world, when really, our experiences are just beginning.

Briana Murphy is a senior at Colony High School.