I admit it . . .I never wanted to believe it when Anonymo the Nameless (or was it Penguinboy Jimmy?) predicted, in his (in)famous USC Report, "You will go to USC."

"Nah," I thought in arrogant defiance. "I’ll surely be at Wake Forest next year."

Well, the reality of April of one’s senior year rolls around. Yep, I got a letter from Wake Forest. "Sorry, but the Admissions Committee at Wake Forest has decided not to offer you admission at this time." Or it said something like that. My only vibrant memory from that time was a bright vermilion shade in everything that I saw.

My mind then returned to last November. I remembered all of the time I spent preparing my application for Wake Forest. I wrote SIX essays for those people! And I tried my best. I worked so hard to be creative while still trying to be myself and present an accurate portrayal of Chuck T to these people. Not only did I think of that, but I also thought of the past two years of hard work I spent at the South Carolina Governor’s School, amazed that I do not have gray hair at this point.

"So, I worked so hard to get placed on Wake Forest’s waiting list." I never thought it would happen. I was prepared to let Wake Forest know exactly what they could do with my waiting list spot. I surely didn’t want it. After all, I felt like I had been slapped in the face.

So here I am, after two years of Governor’s School. While this experience has helped me become an overall better thinker and learner, wasn’t it also supposed to help me go to the school of my dreams? I mean, I can blame it on myself, but I didn’t do anything but work hard to get into the college I’ve always wanted to go to. But I can’t blame the school. It’s not GSSM’s fault, not by a longshot. It was just a way to remove the blame from myself.

It’s funny how things work themselves out, though. I realized that Wake Forest was not my "dream school." It’s funny how I convinced myself that it was, however. I mean, everyone else was applying to the big shot schools; I even have some friends who applied to Ivy League schools. So I made myself think that I would be just as good as everyone else by applying to a prestigious school, getting accepted there, and winning a sizable scholarship.

Okay, so USC isn’t exactly my "dream school." But in all actuality, my realization is that I have no "dream school." Let’s face it, after twelve years, I’m tired of school, to be quite honest. I love learning, but school has entered a phase where it no longer interests me. I want to learn what I desire to know. But that is a story for another time. Anyway, I sized up the situation: USC, all right. I have a lot of Govie friends who go there. They have offered me a good scholarship, and they show genuine interest in having me as a student. Maxcy is a very nice dorm. And I haven’t even mentioned that my bandmates in Neoteny are at USC as well. So what do I have to lose going to USC? Is it really so bad? No, I have nothing to lose. I will be perfectly happy there.