Since I was little, I have heard so many stories about senior year in high school. I have heard about the "rush" you feel when you submit your college application, and the relief you feel now that you have reached the top of the food chain.

For the last four years, I have dreamed of this moment. The moment that I would be applying for colleges and furthering my future endeavors.

But no one ever talked about the difficulty behind getting to this point: the struggle of hardship, disappointment, success and chaos. People said the journey would be long-waited, but nothing more.

Now that I am here, I often feel myself looking back on my memories throughout the last couple of years. The good memories cause me to long for a moment that will come close to the previous one. However, the bad ones are hard to reminisce on, hard to accept even.

The story behind getting to where we are is often something we do not talk about. It is something we brush off in fear, remembering our difficult venture.

But our journey has made us who we are. It should be praised. The happiness and pain we have felt over the last four years should be expressed and remembered. It should be talked about for the decades to come because without these four years in high school, we would not be where we are now. We would not be closing a chapter in our life.

As I complete my applications for college, I feel joyful and accepting of the hardships I have faced over the years because they have made me stronger.

Though high school has been anything but easy for us, we have made it. We are seniors, and we are rapidly finishing our journey that we never thought would end.

Some people feel fearful of taking the next step toward adulthood, but I feel relieved. I feel excited and grateful for my unknown future.

College applications are the glimpse of reality that we have made it so far. These documents sum up our last four years of high school into a few questions, and a few grades and recommendations.

From the first time we ever stepped foot in our high school as freshmen, up until now, our four years have turned out to be a chaotic blur of nerve-racking tests, bad weeks, busy schedules and Friday night football games. Every week we wished away and every paper we rushed to finish has become a dwindling countdown to the last essay we will ever write here.

Submitting my college applications has made me realize that all my hard work and sleepless nights have been worth it, after all. I may not have thought it at the time, but I know now.

The last four years have mattered. They have shaped us and molded us into who we are now.

While waiting for my letter of acceptance or rejection, I have realized the most important fact of all:

Though these years have been important, they do not define us.