Calling all juniors, it’s Naviance time! The Junior Autobiography survey can be overwhelming and painstakingly tedious.
In what ways have you grown over the last three years of high school?
Let’s see. We’ve learned how to write five-page papers in a single night. We’ve learned how to survive on four hours of sleep every night. Apart from those skills, nothing really comes to mind. Next question.
Share a story that would be helpful to understand one of your passions, interests, or hobbies listed above.
With all the projects and essays and assignments we have, does anyone really have the time to have a genuine hobby that hasn’t already been exploited as an extracurricular? If you do, congratulations, you’re the first! Oh, my personal favorite question is up next.
Provide any additional anecdotes or short stories that provide insight into who you are.
Think about that for a moment. At the ripe age of 16, we should know who we are and what life-changing events have occurred to make us that person. I don’t know about others, but my life really isn’t eventful enough for me to have had these huge character development moments.
Honestly, I don’t know how anyone came up with so many meaningful stories about their life. Not to mention the anecdotes they wanted regarding our favorite and least favorite classes. Shockingly, the reason I don’t like learning about the Gold Rush isn’t because of some traumatic experience from my past. I very simply don’t think it’s that interesting. Similarly, I don’t know why I prefer Algebra to Geometry. I’d just rather not prove that a triangle is a triangle when I can see it is a triangle. Now, after somehow figuring out what might be “surprising to know about you”, you move on to the “College Search Questions” section.
Share how important some of these college culture qualities are to you.
Seems simple enough. Strong Athletic Teams. Fair enough, not everyone likes sports. Diverse Campus. Understandable, but different people have different priorities. Friendly Campus. Now, please explain to me why someone would want to go to a hostile campus. No one in their right mind wants to feel not welcomed.
Let’s backtrack and look at some of the “Family Information” questions. Now, I grasp the need for some of these. Parent Name. Completely understandable. However, I was unaware that the colleges that my parents attended were such a big factor in my college application process. Similarly, I don’t really see the relevance of my parents’ jobs and highest levels of education.
Lastly, everyone’s favorite part of the Naviance questionnaire. Save Progress. I do not know a single person that didn’t have to rewrite their answers at least once. Say you step away from your laptop for a minute. You come back to a completely empty screen because you forgot to click that one button.
I don’t know about anyone else, but the second I write my answer, I have forgotten my answer—because I’m having so much fun writing it, of course. By now, I’m really hoping it’s clear how necessary and enjoyable it is, responding alone to a 52-question survey dictating our futures. It’s exactly what high school juniors need!
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