College application season is a bogeyman. We spend the first three years of high school anticipating and then dread the upcoming autumn equally. 

Despite that, we’re immediately overwhelmed with work. In between filling out applications and coordinating meetings with teachers and counselors, we stare blankly at essay prompts that ask us to explain who we are, breaking down every desirable trait we have in 200 words or less. 

On top of this, “senioritis” makes what felt like a reasonable course load last April suddenly impossible to handle. 

That said, the worst part of the college application season is undoubtedly the fact that it’s basically inescapable. 

Our parents’ near constant questions about progress on applications we likely haven’t even started are already hard to handle. But it doesn’t stop there. 

Suddenly, all our friends can talk about it is which colleges they’re applying to, and who has a shot and who doesn’t. 

If I had a penny for every time I heard a college conversation appear out of thin air in a classroom, I might not be in crippling student loan debt five years from now. 

School breaks aren’t even breaks. We spend them working on essays and applications, or simply stressing out about the fact that our entire future could depend on the quality of the work we put out now. 

On the surface, Thanksgiving Break looks like a lucky break. It’s certainly long enough, but Thanksgiving itself poses an interesting challenge. Small talk with relatives inevitably circles back to a single topic: college applications. 

Whether it’s simple curiosity about where we’re applying or an inquisition into our plans for the next 10 years, the barrage of questions seems overwhelming, especially considering that Thanksgiving was supposed to be a break from college application stress. 

Enough is enough. 

I spend enough time already stressing about completing my applications. I could do without the incessant questions from peers, parents and relatives about all the details I’m still unsure about myself. 

Though these questions seem harmless, hearing them all the time is overwhelming. At times, it feels like I exist in an echo chamber of college-related questions. It’s as if my life has been reduced to the applications I’m drafting. 

 Even a brief respite is worth something. In the midst of this stress, a quick pause in the college chatter is its own kind of bliss. 

So this college application season, do your neighborhood senior a favor, and spare them the interrogation on their future. Trust me, we’ve already heard it.