It feels good to be accepted.

Given my substantial grades and considerable amount of extracurricular activities, I wasn’t shocked to get the acceptance letters. However, it still gave me a sort of warm and fuzzy feeling to see what I have been working toward for the last four years become manifested in one small envelope.

“Congratulations on your success…” the letter reads.

Four years amount to those four words. I have to wonder if it was worth it.

Was it worth the headache of studying until the wee hours of the morning for a big test after seeing Anberlin at the Pageant? I could have just slept. Were the A’s worth bringing my homework to the camping grounds with my family? I could have just blown it off and roasted some marshmallows. Was it worth it to sacrifice hours of my life, memory in the video camera and food in my house just to make a silent movie from the ’20s, a cytoskeleton interpretation involving a disassembled tent, or a sock puppet show complete with both death machines and Barbie dolls?

I think it was worth it. I got more than just good grades out of those experiences and others like them. I learned that I will actually do better on finals if I do something fun to supplement the pain of studying. I learned that sometimes all I need is to unwind from the stress. I also learned that no matter how bad a school project ends up, it won’t matter because it will provide more laughs that way.

All in all, it’s about accumulating experiences, as my pastor, Freddy Williams, always says. I will be richer not because of those A’s that I worked so hard to earn, but because of the memories that I now have.

Of course, I’m glad to have the A’s. That’s why I do what I do. But it is good to see that I can still live life while working hard; I’ll need that in college, for sure.