I will never forget the day that I sent in my college applications. I had no clue in what I was doing, or if I even submitted the application correctly. It was just this big wave of emotions ranging from fear to frustration. That day, I had one of the biggest panic attacks in my life in which I felt as though my world was falling apart. Rather than being exciting, I feared that I was going to get rejected due to me not meeting the academic requirements.
All throughout high school, I had been really involved in journalism. So, my Junior year I was able to attend JEA (Journalism Education Association) in Dallas, TX. There was a small college fair going on with most schools that have really good journalism programs. Yet, the only colleges that were close to where I lived were Arizona State University and Texas Tech University.
I looked into many other colleges that also offered what I wanted to do. And I ended up applying to the University of Texas at San Antonio, Lamar University, University of Texas at El Paso, Texas Tech University, Arizona State University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Arizona. And I was lucky enough to be accepted to all of them, and get CAPed for the University of Texas at Austin.
I really had to narrow it down to either Arizona State or Texas Tech. Since most of the other schools either did not have as good of a Journalism program or the cost was going to be too expensive.
The hardest part of the decision process was when there was a time where my parents were not really sure if I was going to be able to attend Arizona State since it was out of state even if I had a scholarship. So I had to apply to Texas Tech last minute since it had a pretty good Journalism program also. It had shattered my heart knowing that everything I was looking forward to probably would never be able to happen. But after my dad did some recalculation, he was able to make sure that I had the freedom to chase my dream
I fell in love with Arizona State because of the distance that it was from where I am from, the campus size, and the fact that two of my cousins that are around my age live 20 minutes away. Being able to be at the downtown campus, I believe is really going to open my horizons and push me in trying new things.
I am so content with my decision, even if many people might not agree. I am really happy with all my decisions I had made the years prior because they all brought me to where I am now. And sometimes deep down in my heart, I know that this is God's plan in me being able to attend Arizona State.
