College: Washington University in St. Louis

Major: political science & philosophy

If you really want to get to know me, you should look inside my laptop. Or, I should say, you should open it up, wait five minutes for it to turn on, then finally try to log in if it hasn’t overheated already.

My desktop is a warzone: PDFs and Photoshop documents from the past four years pile up and entirely obscure the wallpaper behind them. My web browser’s even worse; its torrent of 43 or so open tabs assault any organized person’s senses. A Schoology tab sits by five different Quizlets, which sandwich a Buzzfeed quiz titled “Which Ratatouille Character are You?” (I am, of course a Remy). My extensive internet library and the loudly whirring computer fan resulting from it have caused many students and teachers alike to look over in concern, then tell me to get my life together.

So I’m not the neatest person, OK? I’ll admit that. But as the saying goes, there is a method to my madness.

I started my time at Kirkwood with the intense anxiety that I needed to be organized to excel in school. This led to my whole high school career being planned out and wrapped up in nice, five-tabbed packages. Merry Schlarman would pack her schedule with APs, join clubs, go to this college, retire and die on this day, etc. It took high school to make me realize that true growth comes from accepting the unexpected opportunities that come your way. 

When I say opportunity, I mean every opportunity. Following this mantra, I began to fill my life and my computer space up with every eclectic idea I came upon. Whether it be starting a (surprisingly successful) duck-themed comic strip in the newspaper or donning a morph suit in the freshman play (not so successful), my time has gained clutter and color from my explorations. 

Although it may seem unorganized, everything that’s unplanned isn’t always an obstacle. It’s the seemingly unnecessary projects that I feel have prepared me the most for college, and while I won’t lie that cleaning out my computer is cathartic, a part of me is struggling to let go of my Minesweeper record. The time’s come to close out of my tabs, delete all of my files and log out.