#2019bound

[bgtalks1-blog]

I’m going to be a daddy again! We celebrated with our loved ones this holiday season. And know we move forward expecting. Truly, what a special moment it was! #2019Bound #nopressurenodiamonds https://www.instagram.com/p/BsGc6n_nQtWF6nU1wZ2HJDKdYM-84bwLAaTti40/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dm6zle3c766k

[knitgalivey]

Learn to Leave all of that in 2018... #Forgive #LetGo #MoveOn #2019bound (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BruEAHulpSi34iku74BRhnItSvZrwHeQReBTRA0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1i41xntdld2iu

[jodoeslife]

2019bound said: i don’t think schools are technically allowed to consider scores not reported officially, but a school probably won’t reject you just bc of a couple points on your ACT!! don’t worry, you’ll be fine! :)

Thank you for the reassurance, I am basically in panic mode right now with decisions so close!

[hagiographically]

Hi! I know this is a pretty complicated question, but I'm pretty heavily considering applying to stan REA, so I was wondering why exactly you chose stanford in the end and what about it appealed to you?

hey there! if you don’t mind i’d like to answer this publicly just in case anyone else has this question in the future :)

okay not going to lie (and anyone who’s followed me since late summer/early fall knows) stanford wasn’t really my #1. i was crazy about yale and i loved uchicago and stanford was just sort of distant, like i liked it well enough and i knew it was an amazing school but i figured i had absolutely no chance so i didn’t really care about it. i really only applied early because i was a legacy and my dad mentioned once very early last year (he denies it if you bring it up) that applying early would be a small push and being a legacy is a small push so combining them would be a bigger push + a better chance of getting accepted than if i applied early somewhere else. so i was like sure, fine, and applied early, and i figured not being in love with the school was probably a good thing because if i got rejected i wouldn’t be crushed. imagine my surprise when i got in. it had literally never occurred to me that i had even the slightest chance, i was so prepared for rejection. it was kinda awesome, honestly.

i didn’t really fall in love with the school until after i was accepted, but i think i like that better because now i know what i’m getting and i love them for accepting me which i guess it’s like with people, my favorite thing about people is when they show interest in me so the fact that this incredibly selective school wanted me for whatever reason was enough to make me mentally commit a month after getting in. they just treated me so well. i went to a reception in new york city, and the day after they had a current freshman call me on the phone to talk to me about stanford, and they sent emails and updates and handwritten notes from admissions officers and it was even better than when i loved yale because stanford was a feeling that grew on me and i could not even begin to imagine going anywhere else at this point. even when i was there for admit weekend the current students were the nicest people i’d ever met- all you had to do was even look confused and a student on their bike would pull over, ask if you needed directions, and walk you to where you needed to go. they have such a wonderful and collaborative atmosphere, everyone there is so amazing and brilliant but also so incredibly modest and down-to-earth and i really just feel like i could grow so much if i let myself. and i want to.

i did decide to enroll at stanford because i didn’t have too much of a choice- it was the only school of its caliber that i was accepted to, that’s true. but i think that i would have done it anyway. even if i’d been accepted anywhere else i think i would have gone to stanford. they just put so much thought and care into everything they do- at the reception in manhattan, they singled each of us out and said something that stood out about us and i didn’t feel invisible anymore. their departments for everything, pretty much, are so incredible, even in stuff i didn’t know about. i didn’t even know stanford anthropology was good and there it is in the top 10 in the country. they know how to have fun, they have school spirit and a great sports program which i don’t even care about but maybe i might?? they have a campus that takes my breath away every time i stand in the main quad. they have a sense of humor; the tree, nerd nation, beat cal, all that good stuff. they are fun and outgoing and sunny and everything i aspire to be, everything i’m not right now but maybe i could be if i tried. i have been enamored with california as long as i can remember, i went to the bay area when i was fifteen and i watched the golden sunlight filter through the palm tree leaves and i knew that was where i wanted to spend the rest of my life. what’s the rest of my life to a fifteen year old? not much, probably. but four years is a start.