"Wait, you aren't going to a University? Why aren't you going to a big-name school?"
This was the ultimate, inescapable inquiry that I combated in my process of applying to colleges. While all my friends were anxiously waiting to hear back from ten state universities scattered like pretty little puzzle pieces across the country, I was patiently waiting to get responses from the three local schools I applied to. They would all come to high school proudly representing a different college on their sweatshirts each day while I wore my average sweaters and chiffon scarves. As they talked with wide, glittering eyes at lunchtime about all the places they desperately desired to go, I sat quietly; chewing my ham and cheese sandwich without contributing a single word to the conversation.
This was my choice.
Yet, everyone seemed to think they needed to weigh-in with their opinions about the destination of my future.
I knew I wasn't cut out to go to a big university. I was positive that I would've been swallowed whole in the vast sea of people with blurry and forgettable faces. I wanted to be able to stretch my wings in an environment that would help nurture me in seclusion as I honed in on my passions and created myself as an individual.
The beautiful thing about going to a small school is the sense of community that comes from the people I meet. Everyone seems to smile politely as they walk by and we all make it our business to actually hold the door open for one another. Plus, our campus is small enough that a familiar face can turn into an incredible friendship without any force or effort; it just falls into place and happens.
The relationships I'm able to form with my professors are also one of the most gratifying parts about going to a small school. Within the department of my major, I have become close with my professors and it leads me to absolutely love attending their classes. We all get to know each other on a personal level, laugh and make jokes, talk over lunch in the student center about how the semester is going, and just be friendly with one another. The professors at my college have tremendously helped me grow into myself and my mindset as a strongly opinionated young woman. I'm unsure if I would have been able to get this kind of close guidance if I was learning in an auditorium while surrounded by four hundred other people at a university. When I ask my friends who go to big schools how well they know their professors, the continuously tell me that they hardly know them at all.
"But wait...you're not going to dorm?! Wow, you'll never be independent. You're about to miss out on the whole college experience."
That was the second wave that tried to knock me off of my feet. I always had to be ready to defend myself against people. In my head I had rehearsed my answer to this jab so many times, I seared it into my burning memory: I'm staying local because I just don't want to leave home. My parents are cool and aren't in my business. Plus, I want to stay in close proximity to New York City.
I hated defending myself about this. Why did my decision strike everyone as so out-of-the-ordinary, and why did I have to constantly validate my reason for staying home? It certainly wasn't fair that I was told my choice of school was just "an extension of high school", and "the equivalent of the local community college."
Yes, I've heard it all. But what bugged me the most was how I was told I would be missing out on the college experience. As a sophomore approaching my junior year, I am proud to say that going towards next semester I have earned the titles of Recruitment Chairperson for Alpha Phi Omega, the Treasurer for Spartan Scribes, the Editor in Chief of the school newspaper, a member of Campus Activities Board, an inductee into Sigma Tau Delta, and I'm newly part of this wonderful writing platform called the Odyssey. In my eyes, my college experience is much further developed than the experiences of the people I once knew in high school.
By no means am I bashing large schools. I hold a great deal of respect for the people who are able to go away to universities and not become just another face in the crowd. In a way, I envy their ability to be comfortable in that kind of setting. But what I do want people to understand, though, is that just because a college is small, doesn't mean it has less strength than any other school. I want people to stop being judgmental towards those of us who decide to commute as well, because living at home neither deters from our independence nor detracts from our college experience
I love that I chose St. Thomas Aquinas College, and I still hold firm in my decision.
"Aw, that's such a small school. You're just wasting your potential by going there."
Do you think so? Ha, just watch me.
