It's college season. Applications are due, people are settling into their new homes, and others are starting to accept offers. It’s exciting!
The college application process for me was fine. I wasn’t always a fan of the standard essays that we had to write, but who really is.
I started applying in the summer and tried my best to get everything done before my senior year began… which would have been nice if that actually did happen, but unfortunately didn’t, and it’s fine. I used a college planning service, hoping they could advise me on which schools to apply for and which ones I should be touring.
So, when I was applying to schools, I wanted to ask myself what I wanted out of my college experience. I asked myself what I liked, if they offered my major, if I wanted public versus private, and in-state or out of state. All these things were essential to picking my school.
One day in my junior year, the college planning service I had been using gave me a list of schools I should be looking at, and then I got the opportunity to narrow it down, based on the statistics they gave me, and what I was interested in.
Great, I thought, this will be awesome! I narrowed down my list, and realized I was applying to mostly private schools in California, which I was excited about!
The second I submitted my last application, I was full of excitement. Which schools will get back to me and want me? It was a process and a half, but I was excited to see what was going to come out of it.
When looking at schools to apply for, Washington State University was never really on my list, and the college planning service always thought of it as a backup for me, if I needed it. With their mentality and stigma towards WSU, I had never really considered it being the right school for me…until I was accepted. It was not my first acceptance letter that I had received, but I was invited to an admitted students weekend. I signed up for one and both of my parents went over one weekend with me to see what WSU was all about.
The first night I was there, I was hesitant. I had been there for camps before, but I had never really experienced it with students there, and never saw it from a student’s perspective. That night, I got see a family friend and hang out with her for a little bit. She explained her life at school and showed me around. We got milkshakes and had a great time.
The next day was more of an overview of the campus, and what I might be getting myself into. It started off with a tour of campus, which I had done before, and then several different sessions you could attend, learning more about your major, and hearing stories from students who had been currently going there, or who were alums.
I loved the whole experience.
At the end of the day, I was sitting at the airport with my mom and my dad sitting across from me. My dad says, “Danni, why don’t you commit?”
I thought about it for a few seconds, and I replied, “Yes. I’m going to do that.”
Why did I do this, you may ask? Because it felt so right. Every single part of it.
The football games I would be screaming my lungs out at, the friends I would be making, the wonderful bond my roomie and I would have, the classes I wanted to take, the perfect size, and the location. Every aspect of Washington State University was perfect to me, and still to this day, is. I have found my perfect group of friends, I have been offered new opportunities through the connections I have made, and I am doing well with my current major. I am living my best life when I am in college, at WSU.
Life is too short to be unhappy, right? This is something I have always thought about, but especially in this case. If you are going to be living somewhere for four years, you would hope you like it just a little. And if you don’t, then go out, and change it!
This is how I found my perfect school—the feeling is like no other, and when you know, you know. I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to go to Washington State University, to have the wonderful friends that I have made, and have the memories I have experienced. It has been a fun, amazing, and learning experience and I cannot wait for two more years of fun with so many people!