It was Sunday, November 30. Exhausted from hours of editing, I was eager to submit my application to four of the University of California colleges. I grabbed my laptop, took a seat at my desk, and pulled up the UC website. After entering my email and password, I clicked the login button. A gray page I had never seen before popped up, reading:  The site is currently unavailable. Please come back later. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I stared at my screen for a good five minutes before the information I’d read fully sunk in. I wouldn’t be able to submit my application. The next day was Monday, the deadline to apply, and I was completely stuck. 

I trudged downstairs to inform my dad, who I’d asked to help review my application the day before. Upon hearing the news, a look of worry clouded his face. I suggested we try again the next day and hope for the best and he agreed, reassuring me that if I was experiencing issues it meant that there were probably thousands of other kids going through the same thing.

Up to this point, my college application process had run pretty smoothly. With only three classes this semester, a day off in the middle of the week, and sports being cancelled, I have had ample time to write my essays and submit my applications. But the technological crash of the UC application site was yet another reminder of how heavily our lives now rely on technology. 

The next day, I promptly logged onto the UC application and with my dad’s help, I submitted my application to four colleges that night. The University of California did, however, decide to extend the deadline to apply until Friday, December 4, after students across the nation experienced technological difficulties the day before the original deadline.