That's a lot to process. Remember to inhale--oxygen is important.
1) Don't overthink the admissions process or try to second guess the committee decision. Having been on an admissions committee, I can tell you there's no way to predict what they'll decide. The committee is made up individuals, and individuals think for themselves.
2) I also come from a working class background. If I brought a D home on a report card, my parents' reaction was not significantly different than if I brought an A home. I too, was seriously bored and an underachiever in middle school and high school.
I went to a small, private college and absolutely loved it. It was better than I could have imagined, and I was more excited to arrive on campus my senior year than I was in any of the years before! I did a bunch of my emotional and social growing up at college, which was a pretty intense social and emotional experience for everybody, some more than others. It's been more than 20 years [cough] since I graduated, but even today, I've had discussions on FB with my college friends about interesting articles or funny photos we've posted.
I still struggle with motivation for things like cleaning up my living room today, right now. But I'm a tenured teacher, and this much I can tell you: you are not likely to ever have more power to actually change things in education than you will between the four walls of your own public school classroom. It is not easy, by any means, and I find this a very annoying truth, personally; but there is not much anybody in an office can do to impact learning without the full cooperation of the classroom teacher.
