I’d love to say that the last time I cried in school was in kindergarten. It wasn’t. It was College Day. For those of you lucky enough to never have participated in the glory of it, College Day is where all of the seniors get to sit and listen to all the colleges in Utah drone on and on about what is unique about their school.

The counseling center has advertised College Day as the day where all the “representatives of colleges in Utah will be here to talk and meet with [us].” But, despite that uplifting purpose, often our expectations fall completely short. The presentations all begin to feel extremely monotone.

Each senior is encouraged to observe presentations from three different colleges. But most of the time, you’re just sitting in the room completely bored because you already know what school you’re going to and you just needed another presentation to go to. But the entire day has on every important result: you start thinking about how much you still have to do before you can apply for colleges.

The list of things to do can seem endless: applications have to be filled out, fees paid, the FAFSA submitted. It can all get very overwhelming and make you want to either break out in maniacal laughter or burst into tears. Add all of your normal homework and activities on top of that, and it seems like you’ll never have time to sleep, let alone finish the papers.

Those application deadlines sneak up sooner than you think, and before you know it, you’re back to crying because you don’t know how you’ll ever get them done in time, and what’s the point of applying to college because we’re all going to fail high school anyway? But just remember, it can all be done if you just take a little bit of time to make sure you get it right.

The best way to avoid breaking down in the middle of the auditorium during a college presentation is to make sure that you get all the information you need in order to get those college apps done before you get to the applications. the College Board recommends that you start by getting all of the documents you need form the school, such as transcripts, test scores, and teacher recommendations before you start applying.

Don’t get overwhelmed by waiting until the last minute to get that stuff done. Start early and find out ahead of time what information you’ll need. That way, you can feel calm and confident going into College Day, and not anxious and upset.