By ELSA WATLAND

I am pretty organized as far as high-school students go. I don’t procrastinate and hopefully never will, although I have heard I have some “senior-itis” to look forward to.

This summer, I lifeguarded, took a math class, worked as a camp counselor, vacationed with my family and, of course, worked on the ever-dreaded college applications. A little early you might think? NOT.

The last thing I want on my plate as I start my senior year (yay!) is piles of short answers and essays to write. But I have to admit, I have not been as productive as I’d hoped. Sure, the busy work of filling out my marital status, citizenship and social security is a piece of cake, but I have found that not procrastinating does not guarantee success; supplement questions and essay topics have left me completely stumped. A question from one school I am applying to has me struggling: “What magazines, books and Web sites do you enjoy?” What kind of sick, sadistic question is that? What does this school want from me? I know that if I write the truth: Seventeen magazine, Facebook and the National Enquirer, I will bury myself, but if I write NASDAQ.com, Newsweek and Popular Science, admissions counselors will either know/think that I am lying or know/think I am a geeky weirdo.

The thought of belonging to the largest graduating class in U.S. history is a little intimidating. College is so competitive. I look around and see so many people who have done countless hours of community service, saved a child in a third-world country and lettered 20 times. I find myself asking a question I find much easier to answer: Do I even stand a chance? I know that this is my time to shine, to set myself apart from all the other bazillion applicants — I must prevail, or how else will I survive this vicious process?

Nonetheless, this negative attitude seems to dissipate as I rock out to Coldplay and fill out these questions with no answer. There are butterflies in my stomach because in less than a year I am free! I am so excited, and while I know the application process seems excruciatingly painful, like everything else in life, it will pass and I will someday laugh at how stressed I was over it.

I don’t know what to expect in the upcoming months of the application process, but I know the overall outcome will have an enormous impact on my college years to come. This is my first step into the real world (no, not the MTV version) … so help me — and wish me luck.

Elsa Watland is a senior at Inglemoor High.