As an incoming freshman, I remember people always talking about how big of a change college was going to be from high school. Everyone around me made a big deal about it – my older brothers, my high school teachers, my parents, my parents' friends, my friends who were adults – going to college was this huge transition.

At the end of my senior year of high school, I was going to attend the University of Mississippi. After selecting the perfect future roommate, who had already become my best friend, picking out all the classes I needed so I could one day be a doctor and falling madly in love with Oxford, Mississippi I thought I was set. Then my finical aid package came back and I didn’t get enough money from the school. I couldn’t get a big enough loan to cover the rest of my out of state tuition. I was not going to be able to attend the Ole Miss.

I was completely heartbroken. I had prepared myself and felt ready to take on Ole Miss. And it wasn’t going to happen.

I didn’t know what to do, so I went rock climbing at Virginia Beach Rock Gym. That is where I ran into a friend. I explained to her what was going on and she looked at me and said, “You know Radford University is still accepting applications, right?”

I thought it was too late for me to go anywhere other than community college at that point of summer. However, I left the gym and went home to talk to both my twin brother, who was already attending Radford University in the fall and my parents.

We all talked it over and decided I should apply to the university and see what happens.

I applied two days before leaving for Nicaragua. And so, the waiting period started. I knew I wouldn’t hear anything before leaving the country and that I wasn’t going to have my phone while in Nicaragua so I hopped on the plane hoping to have had an email waiting for me upon my arrival back to the United States.

When I landed in the Atlanta airport waiting for me was an empty inbox. I was shocked since it had been ten days. I called admissions immediately to find out that somehow my application had been lost in the computer system, but admissions sent my application to the Dean of Admissions who was on vacation for him to look over.

Two days later, I turned my phone on during one of my breaks at work, to find that my mother had left me a voice mail to call her back as soon as I got it. Dean Pennix had called my mom to let her know that I had been accepted to Radford University.

With the news of my acceptance, I started crying tears of relief, tears of joy in public.

In a matter of two weeks, I had gone from having everything I thought I needed to go to college to being accepted and enrolled in an entirely new college. Talk about a major change.

I had roughly twelve days until I moved into the resident halls of Radford University and I had no plan, no roommate, no classes and no clue what I was getting myself into.

I can honestly say that having no plan, having no idea who my roommate was, having no classes and no idea what to expect was a gift given to me as I became a freshman in college.

You see, when I was going to attend the University of Mississippi, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen. I had detailed expectations of what I thought my freshman year of college should be; leaving no room for my year to actually happen.

Attending Radford University, I had zero expectations of what was to come. This allowed me to go to college to implement advice I had been given: live college with intention.

Radford University has become my home because each decision I made happened with intention, not because of a set expectation.

Instead of being best friends with my roommate, I became best friends with a senior.

Instead of rushing, I ended up leading Young Life College.

Instead of being a double major in Biology and Psychology, I am a Communication Studies major.

While Oxford, Mississippi will always have a special place in my heart, I never want to leave the beloved home of Radford, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I had a lot of expectations going into college. They were all ruined. It was the best thing that happened to me.

To all the rising freshmen out there, know that college is not going to be what you expect it to be; the only way to make your first year one you’ll never forget is being intentional with your choices.