Dear Kennesaw,

You weren’t my first choice. You weren’t even really a choice at all, you were more of a decision made for me. You’re close to home, and you provide for me an education at almost no cost thanks to HOPE and finacial aid. You were the most rational and ideal choice for my family and I at the time, so I chose you.

To be honest, I resented you all of first semester. You were like cough medicine being shoved down my throat as a sick kid. You were what my parents wanted for me and that is what they got. I didn’t want you and yet there I was, engulfed in every aspect of what you were.

I planned my escape. Two years, and I would transfer, and my parents agreed. Any school I wanted to go to, they would pay for; this kind of deal most people would have never been offered, but I had the opportunity right in front of me. The deal was made, and I started looking for my new home. Colorado, New York, Florida, anywhere but here, because Georgia was not on my mind. But then something happened.

I pictured leaving you. I pictured leaving the people whom I didn’t know how to survive without. I pictured leaving the spot at the Commons that I sat at every morning after an all-nighter. I pictured saying goodbye to the courtyard I spent countless nights contemplating right and wrong. I pictured leaving you and going somewhere else, and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave you. I had thought you were the problem, but it wasn’t you, it was me. It was me being too narrowminded and not realizing what you had to offer. It was me thinking that the grass is greener on the otherside, when it is only as green as how much you water it. It was me being stupid, and I apologize. Because honestly, you are the best decision I never had to make.

You are overlooked and under appreciated. You don’t get the credit you deserve. I have never once walked on to a campus and felt as at home as I do with you. You radiate acceptance and opportunity and I have gained more from being here for just under a year that I have anywhere else in my life. So I wanna apologize. I'm sorry I didn't pick you, and I'm sorry I wanted to leave. I'm sorry for judging a book by its cover when all I try to instill is understanding. I just needed to give you time, and I'm so glad I did. I found my home with you, Kennesaw, and you've made a home for a lot of others too.

Black and gold have never looked so good, and I have never been so happy. Thank you. You've done more than you know.

Yours truly,

One of your students