During junior and senior year time is spent studying your butt off for ACT's, writing resumes that would make your elementary teachers so proud but your parents worry about the morals they instilled in you, and filling out every scholarship application you can get your hands on. The college in my hometown is small and always compared to "scum of the earth", if you will. There was not a college in mind less than a 2 hour drive from my hometown. As applications came in, my nerves set in. What happens when the college you've always dismissed turns into the one that will make your dreams come true?
1. Your Church
For some new college students moving and trying to reconnect within a new church family may be too uncomfortable. Sitting in the same pew and seeing the same familiar and supportive faces you've always seen as you adjust to the changes and difficulties your new life as a college student brings.
2. Your Family
Your dad, the endless (paid for) lunch dates, your forever flat tire-changer, and your go-to when your gas tank is looking empty. Your mom, her printer, excellent knowledge of Excel, and always someone to talk to, and if you're lucky, your best friend. Siblings, not only being in town for their emergencies but to be around to see your nieces and nephews grow up, never having to miss a birthday party because you're hours away at college.
3. Friendships
Most of my friends left, anywhere from 2 to 4 hours away. The first friend I made was a girl who I had in both my education classes. From study sessions, lunch dates, and everything in between, It took me a long time to realize that just because we didn't attend high school together and we were new friends didn't mean we couldn't be best friends. More than meeting new friends was reconnecting with ones from your high school graduating class.
4. Your town
Taking new friends down your favorite back-road and showing off your favorite restaurant. Knowing the shortcuts to get back to the college when traffic is backed up, and helping them with everything because you or your parents know everyone.
5. Holidays and Summer
Other than school being closed you know that these times are to be cherished because your friends are coming home. No one understands hanging out in the Wal-Mart parking lot like them or the love you share for the favorite Mexican restaurant.
Sometimes the college you've always looked down on is a dream for others, but like many before me have said and many after will say, at the University of Arkansas at Monticello there is nothing more evil than a "dang" Boll Weevil.
