When I left for college, a whole new world opened up: the world of unwanted, unwarranted questions.
Every student is familiar with the dreaded, "are you dating anyone?” and “what are you planning on doing with that major?” We’ve come to expect being asked, “what do you and your friends do?” and “what exactly are you doing after graduation?” We come up with our generic, don’t-ask-me-anymore responses, and move on with life trying to forget all of these things.
But one question always fills me with fear: why do I love my school?
I never know quite how to respond. Should I say the diverse curriculum? What about the uniquely small-yet-still-feels-big size? I could always say Greek life.
Normally I settle with another pretty generic answer - an answer most people probably give when they are inevitably asked this question. After an incoming freshman asked me this a few weeks ago, I responded with “community” without really thinking about it. But I questioned my response the rest of the day.
Why did I choose my school? Did I have a defining moment when I knew this was the place? Did I even truly love it here?
The truth is, I didn’t have a defining moment. There wasn’t a day that I woke up and said, "yes, this is the place for me." It was the moment I made a lifelong friend at the Welcome Back Week concert freshman year. It was the late nights laughing about how dorky I was in high school and gaining the freshman 50 from Sonic ice cream cones. It was because of the awkward encounters during my first year of rush that later helped me to understand the true meaning of sisters. It was the hugs I got after crying harder than I ever had and calling best friends at 1 a.m. to sob about heartbreaks. It was the friends and people I lost after freshman and sophomore year, and realizing why they left. It was because I shared a room with a random girl with the same name as mine who ended up being my best friend. It was because I could walk into my professor’s office and ask him what to do with my life and get an honest answer.
The real reason I love my school is because of the people. That doesn’t make Samford unique. It doesn’t make Samford different from any other school, honestly. Great people can be found at any school. But my people are at Samford. My friends, my professors, my sisters are all at Samford.
It’s the memories I have of the people that are still in my life loving me and the ones that aren’t that taught me lessons I needed to learn, and it’s the idea of having these people in my future that make college what it is.
I could’ve found great friends and professors at any school, but I found mine here. And that’s why I love this place.
