9 a.m. – The alarm sounds and I wake with the feeling of a pit in my stomach. I lie there for a few short minutes thinking of the day I am about to have. I get up, shower, diffuse my hair, put on the already pre-set outfit I had organized the night before, and begin practicing for the last time before my audition.

12 p.m. –  In the car, my heart pounding and nerves increasing by the minute, I sit there silently. One stop at Starbucks, then we are on our way to the Westin Hotel where the Unified auditions are being held. I can barely drink my coffee. I can only sit in the car repeating my monologues in my head.

1 p.m. – We arrive at the hotel. Through the car window I can see crowds of anxious teens heading toward the entrance. My anxiety is at full force as I too walk towards the sliding glass doors. Up the escalator, I find the room where I will be auditioning for my top college. I check in and sit in a room among thirty other teenagers all fighting for the same outcome.

2 p.m. – The college holds an  information session to explain how this audition works, what the major we are auditioning for entails, and answering any questions the prospective students have. Once the session concludes, a group of fifteen kids, myself included, decide that instead of being competitive and hostile towards each other we want to gather in a circle and support each other.  We talk about the different high schools everyone attends, funny theater stories and mishaps, how our other auditions went. We say “break a leg” and “congrats” to everyone who goes in and comes out of their auditions.

3:50 p.m.- I head into the room. The auditor is sitting at the end of a long oval table. I sit and we start chatting about why I wanted to be a part of this school and program. I discuss how I got into ASL, and then I start my monologue. We only have time for one of the two I have practiced, so I pick the one I feel more confident doing.

4 p.m.- Ten minutes later I leave the room feeling happy with my performance. My mom and I exit the previously menacing sliding glass doors that now don’t mean anything to me. We go home, and, although the time I spent in the hotel was only about three hours, I am exhausted. I get into bed, not even taking off the dress and tights I am wearing. I end the day in the same spot I  started it, now only thinking of the day I had just experienced.