My Life on the Waitlist

My parents and I were excited but also confused about what it meant to be a spring admit from the waitlist. But of course, there was no other decision than to accept my enrollment! As a spring Admit, I was required to take a gap semester in the fall and take classes during the summer semester, which would allow me to graduate on time.

During my gap, I worked as a recreation aide at a nursing home, which introduced me to my passion for health care! I also traveled to India for three months and saw family that I hadn’t seen in ten years. I went to my cousin’s beautiful wedding, celebrated my birthday with my grandma for the first time, and celebrated Indian holidays like Uttaryan (Kite Festival). Overall, I made the best of my time off from school.

During move-in, I started to feel the jitters. No, it was more than that – it was impostor syndrome. I was scared people would assume I was less intelligent because I was waitlisted. I quickly realized that it didn’t matter how I was admitted. I was admitted, just like everyone else in my class. I wound up making some of my greatest friends during my first semester.

Soon, I started to feel right at home. I also changed my major to Nutrition & Dietetics as a first year. The following year, I added a minor in Child Adolescent Mental Health Studies to explore my newfound love of healthcare.

As much as these past few years have been beyond what I could have dreamed, I struggled to feel like I fit in right away because of my unconventional start to college and the stigma of being waitlisted. Looking back, I wish I could tell myself that there is not just one conventional route to attending college. It does not matter how I got here, what matters is that I make the most of the opportunity that I have.