Cue the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah:"

I am ALMOST done with all of my graduate school applications! Horray! A few loose ends need to be tied up by my parents at home, but other than that, I am officially finished.

Applying to graduate school felt much different than applying to college. Sending my writing sample and personal statement to all the schools felt like sending my carefully - nurtured and much - loved children into a black abyss called The World Wide Web.

Now I feel a little lost. Applying to these schools has consumed so much of my time, energy and thoughts that I feel guilty when I'm not working on my applications, or at least thinking about them.

I never was very good at waiting. I get impatient when there are more than two people ahead of me in line at the grocery store. Now begins a season of uncertainty, waiting for letters to arrive in my mailbox, waiting for the people who have my future in their hands to make a decision. Perhaps I am being a little overdramatic (shocking!), but it is never easy for me to put myself and my work on the line with the possibility of rejection.

Despite all this, I feel relieved that my part of the process is at an end. I feel at peace and confident in God's faithfulness.

P.S. I recently discovered that one of the literary critics I cited in my writing sample is a professor at NYU. She is also on the PhD admissions review board. There is a good chance that she will read my paper; I hope she likes it!

P.P.S. Some of you have been asking, so here is a complete list of all the schools I applied to:

New York University
Tufts University
University of Colorado at Boulder
Boston University
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Portland State University
Georgetown University
University of Washington at Seattle
The Graduate School at Boston College
University of Illinois at Chicago