College Counseling…. And Ice Hockey

Patrick Burgard

 
If there is one thing that all high school students have in common, it might be the anxiety of going to visit and apply to colleges.  For my peers and I in the junior class, this anxiety hit like a freight train last week when we all went to Junior College Night, hosted by the school college counselor, Mrs. Christie.  It was very insightful, but I, along with the rest of my class, had a terrifying realization that the college application process was finally upon us.  Just the previous night, applying to college was like some distant dream that would come along one day, but not yet.  However, on this night, the time to start the college process had jumped out at me and grabbed me with its fist, refusing to let go, no matter how much I wished it weren’t here yet.

I told my dad about this frightening realization, and he assured me that the college process wasn’t actually the three-eyed monster I had pictured it to be in my head.  I felt a little better, and he changed the subject.  “I have tickets to the Northeastern hockey game this weekend against Boston College, want to come?” he asked me.  I said I would love to, thinking it would give me a chance to relax without thinking about the how daunting the college process was.  

When we got to the game, I started to enjoy myself.  The Matthews Arena was completely packed, and the atmosphere was sensational.  The people in our section were very friendly, and we were talking to some students sitting in the row below us the whole game – I really liked them.  Boston College scored first, but Northeastern matched all three of their goals before the end of the first period. 

The band section electrified the crowd, and I was having such a great time that it wasn’t until halfway through the second period when it dawned upon me that I was, at that very moment, on a college visit.  I was talking to people who went to Northeastern about the game, the things they were studying and how they liked it. I actually learned a lot about the school, while simultaneously having fun.

By taking me to this hockey game, my dad had “accidentally on purpose” made me go on a college visit, but he also assuaged my fears about finding the right school.  I found that, as long as I am relaxed, getting to know a school is a piece of cake.  That three-eyed monster who jumped out of nowhere and grabbed me is actually not a bad guy once you get to know him.