I like to think of life as if you're driving in a car down a highway. With each decision made, you take an exit off of the road you're currently on, leading you down a different path. Much like an actual road, there are signs telling you where you're going. It's at this point where you have to choose: follow the signs, or ignore them and keep driving where ever you want.
I'm a big believer in signs. I think that for each decision, especially major ones, there are small nudges by the fates to get you to go where you need to be. To most people, the signs go unnoticed, or just seem too trivial to matter, but accumulatively they create the path to your future.
There are many situations in my life where there were many signs telling me what to do, and honestly, I ignored most of them. The biggest effect they've had was my decision on which college to attend. For most high school seniors, this is the decision that matters the most in your life.
It all started the summer of 2013. It was the summer before my senior year, and I had already been touring potential colleges. I had my top college list narrowed down to five schools. Like any other soon-to-be high school senior looking at colleges, I looked at the "normal criteria"; food, dorms, class size, success rate after college, etc, but what was most important to me was two things, the program for my major, and the sense of being home.
As a performing arts major, specifically musical theatre/acting, the schools caliber of the program was a huge player in this game, as, like many people, I want to have a fighting shot at a job when I graduate. The feeling was the biggest part for me though. My thoughts were, if I'm going to spend the next four years of my life at this institution, I have to feel welcomed, safe and at home.
As I toured schools, I found many had great dining options, pretty decent housing, good class sizes, safe campuses, amazing musical theatre or acting programs, and a high success rate for my major after college, but I never got that feeling of being home at these schools. That is until I stepped onto the campus at Adelphi Univeristy.
Disclaimer: I have to be honest, when I first went to Adelphi for a tour, I was skeptical about the probability of my actual attendance at the university because it was the only school I was looking at that didn't have a program for musical theatre, just straight acting. I wanted to be a musical theatre performer, not some boring straight actor.
The second I got out of the car, I had a feeling that I didn't get at the other schools, but I couldn't place a finger on it. After three or four subsequent tours, and the audition into the acting program, I knew that if I was accepted, this was the school I wanted to attend fall of 2014.
Now that I had made up my mind, I had to convince my parents. It was now around the time the acceptance letters started to come in. By the time applications were due I had narrowed my options down to two school, which I know sounds ridiculous to only apply to two schools but bear with me. I knew by attending both schools open houses that my grades in high school were good enough to get me a shot, my extra circulars and volunteer activities were lengthy, and my test scores weren't terrible. On top of that, the list of five was whittled down due to not fulfilling the subsequent list created by me and my parents: location, cost, scholarships etc.
Thankfully I got accepted into both the school and the programs for both colleges, but now came the decision. I realized that when making this decision, there were a lot of little signs there to lead me towards Adelphi.
To start off, in two different conversations with two different professors, they had both mentioned having gone to my hometown. One of them had a fellowship at the MacDowell Art Colony, a place in my town where artists, musicians, composers, writers, just to name a few, go to create art, be inspired by the nature around them. The other was talking about "Our Town," a play written by Thorton Wilder, that takes place in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, a fictional town based on my hometown of Peterborough, NH. For me, this was incredible as many people haven't even heard of my town.
The next big sign happened on the drive back home from the school. According to my parents, at some point on the trip, there was a car driving in front of us for a significant period of time which has a license plate that said 'Adelphi,' then an RV passed with Montana on it as the make, but it also happens to be my name.
The last and biggest sign was the feeling of being home. The feeling of being comfortable, and safe. When it came down to choosing between the last two schools, my family and I wrestled back and forth between schools debating cost, scholarships, location, major, the list just goes on and on, but when it came down to it, being a part of the Theatre Family at Adelphi is just that, it's a family, I sensed that when I walked in for my audition. All of the signs pointed to me going to Adelphi, it was the "perfect fit."
If I had ignored all of the signs, I don't know if I would have ended up at Adelphi, but I'm glad I did. These odd coincidences were signs which turned into huge factors. Each sign took me off another exit leading me right to where I am now. If I learned anything during my college admission process it was this: I'm glad I don't have to do it again and follow those signs. Don't ignore them. Who knows where they could take you? They could lead you to exactly who you need to be.
