Me, me!

::eagerly raises hand::

I, too, am definitely not psychologically ready for college. Perhaps the material aspects of moving on, such as packing one's life into boxes --for me, it meant packing my life into two compact bags-- or getting used to having a roommate and dorm life in general, will be easier for me because I've spent the last two years of my school life thousands of miles away from home. But I do relate to feeling daunted by the thought of college, by the academic and social aspects of it all.

Many of us, I think, are scared of going from being top-notch students to only one of the crowd. (Or maybe that's just me and my overcompensating ego :) In any case, I've concluded that I (and anyone else who has that fear) must stop valuating myself in comparative terms (i.e., being "the best of such-and-such or the best at such-and-such") and start thinking of my worth in absolute terms (as in, feeling that I can be very good at X or Y, and being proud of that, even if there are several hundred other students who are better at X or Y than I am).

I guess the other common concerns have to do with the new social scene ("fitting in") and with "growing up." I have no thoughts on those issues, and anyway I don't plan on giving them much thought afterwards, largely because I believe that they all get sorted out eventually. Also,I'm afraid that it's almost impossible to talk about "moving on" without sounding horribly didactic and therefore condescending.

Well, I'm sure that what I've said isn't news for you guys, yet I felt like adding something to the discussion. So yes, Alex,you're not alone in feeling unduly confused and,em, cutely frigthened.:)