"What are your college plans?" is the most frequent question I have been asked this year. Seems like everyone knows what their future plans are as I scramble to figure mine out. Before It became clear, I didn't realize I am different from students whose parents or older siblings have gotten an college education. Those students know when to begin applying to colleges and what colleges they want to go to and some even know what they want to study. Before senior year of high school, I was not aware of how soon college applications would begin and all the necessary steps to preparing for this huge next step in life. I am the oldest child in my family and my parents have both received an education from Bangladesh. The entire schooling system is very different there and even they are clueless when it comes to college applications for me, so its all up to me! I spent many days of my lunch hour sitting in the counselors office and asking for her assistance step-by-step. Luckily, she guided me through two early applications to my top colleges. I ended up submitting my applications and recommendations much earlier than many other students, leaving time for me to focus on school and scholarships and such. I am proud of how quickly I figured things out in order to make things easier not only for me, but for my family who is in this next step of my life with me.