I'm staying home sick today to recover from the cold that I got from Neal, to clean the house and reclaim it from the cat, to read about Steinbeck's first marriage and write an essay afterward, and to refresh Neal's admissions decision page all day long.
For high school seniors, these decisions are exciting. One of my graduating senior friends posted that she got accepted to BYU Provo, and over fifty friends digitally celebrated with her. Transfer decisions haven't been sent out yet. I'm still pressing F5 every few minutes. The application status still reads "complete."
Even when I am at work, I'll log onto my account and go to the BYU online directory. I'll search for Neal's name to see if BYU has hidden his decision in this part of their labyrinthine site. A maze I learned how to navigate when I was a senior. When no matching results show up, I search for my friend Frankie's name. She's a shoo-in to get into the school--I know it. Her name doesn't come up either, so my doubts are quelled for a while. Refresh again. Still "complete."
Sometimes I'll reread the confirmation email that Neal got when he turned in his application. Did I miss some detail? Might they wait until March to send the decision? The standard email template tells me "four weeks after the final application date." So that's February 28th. Or is it March 1st? Refresh. "Complete."
No matter what the decision is, I hope it comes soon.
