Fun Fact about Lauren: She is a lime-aholic; she always has limes in her refrigerator for drinks plus a full stock of lime Tostitos chips
The Moment
December 15, 2005
As December approached, rumors ran through the air. On the University of Florida's website, one small phrase was clear: "All Early Admissions decisions will be announced by December 3, 2005." So many people applied to UF from my high school that the college actually called my high school to make an announcement. (They also wanted to inform students to stop calling the admissions office every hour. We were anxious, what can I say?) The final rumor finally made its round—the University of Florida would be posting all decisions online at five p.m. on Friday. Well, Friday was, without a doubt, the longest day of my life. And of course, they refrained from posting it at exactly five. That would just be too easy.
Yes, I sat at my computer from the second I got home until the second they finally posted the results. I was on the phone with what seemed like half of my friends and online talking to the other half when my mom stopped in my room and asked me to show her how I could check. Completely irritated, I began to explain to her how to type in my password, and my eyes met with the following statement:
"Congratulations! The Office of Admission has approved your application to the University of Florida for the 2006 term. On behalf of the Office of Admission, welcome to the Florida Gator family!"
That was one of the best moments of my life. It's the one moment that every high school senior waits, hopes, and prays for. After about three constant hours of phone calls, congratulations, and excited screeches of pure joy, my Dad could not believe my phone hadn't melted. I was satisfied with everything. And maybe I didn't get the full thrill of ripping open an envelope and rushing through a page full of formalities, but that doesn't matter to me. I got into college. I got into my first choice college. All the worrying, all the stress, and all of the horrid waiting, has finally come to a conclusion. Sigh.
Several of my close friends got in, and several did not. It is never an easy to look your friends in the eyes and be speechless. The University has now come forward and stated that some of their applicants were decided by a lottery due to an overwhelming response in applications. It's never easy to be denied, and it certainly doesn't make it easier on any of my friends to think that a lottery decided a big part of their lives. I am enjoying my happiness, my fellow gators' happiness, and yet I am learning to be there for those who have a different path cut out for them. It's ok. If there is one thing I am still learning, it is that what is supposed to happen, just will. When preparation meets opportunity, that is the best feeling in the world.
As they say at the University of Florida: "It's great to be a Florida Gator!"