Last year, I wrote a comment about my troubles with the Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) application. As an update to the situation, I made it to the state level for theatre but was not accepted. Of all my friends in my grade who made it to the state level for GHP in various subject areas, I was one of the few who was not accepted into the program; and I am perfectly okay with that. I knew that I still wanted to attend a summer program, however, so I applied to another one ahead of time.
That summer program was Vanderbilt Summer Academy (VSA). When I told my friends about this, I got a few eye rolls—my sister had attended the same program two years earlier and is now a sophomore at Vanderbilt University. It seemed as though I was almost exactly following in her footsteps. But her affiliation with the program was not why I applied at all.
When I began my summer program hunt, I knew I wanted a program that was neither too long nor too short, that was fairly well priced, that wasn’t too far away and, most importantly, that offered an interesting course. These requirements significantly narrowed my search. I had immediately written off VSA in an attempt to avert my sister’s path, but as I looked into the program—initially out of curiosity—my opinion began to change, and I applied.
Since I applied early-action, I knew I’d find out sooner, but the decision arrived much faster than I could have expected. The day before my state interview for GHP, I received an acceptance email from VSA. I was overjoyed and continued to annoy my family that evening with nearly constant squeals of excitement and joyful flailing. I was still insanely nervous for my GHP interview the following day, but I knew that no matter what happened, I would be attending an amazing summer program.
A month and a half later, on the day that everyone found out about GHP, we were all buzzing with anxiousness. I had a gut feeling that I hadn’t gotten in, so I just wanted to get the disappointment (albeit small) out of the way. When my email finally came, I grinned. Immediately, I texted my mom, “It’s official—VSA 2015!” I knew that not getting into GHP for theatre didn’t mean I’m a bad actress, so I was okay.
I ended up having an absolutely incredible time at VSA. What I learned through those many months of waiting, applying and waiting is that you really, really should not judge your self worth by whether or not you’re accepted into a program or school or anything. Just focus on furthering your happiness. I know it sounds a little bit preachy and corny, but that’s just another thing I’ve learned to accept. So to all, whether you apply to GHP, VSA, UGA, NYU or any other three-letter-abbreviated place, keep one thing in mind: YOU.
