We might be a small town and an even smaller school, but we aren't small people. We are going to be doctors, nurses, business owners, engineers, and anything else we want to be because of our small school. Carroll College is a little pricey, and we may complain a lot about the WiFi here and how we hate freezing our bottoms off on the way to class from October to March, but it doesn't seem like anyone on campus would want to change that. Why did we pick Carroll College? Why did we intentionally pick a state that has four times as many cows as people to go to college? Why would someone from sunny California want to leave home and move to snowy Helena, Montana?
I know that Carroll is expensive and we are going to be in debt for a crazy long time, but what inspired people to look past the price tag? I could have easily saved about $100,000 and gone to either University of Montana or Montana State, but it doesn't hold the same weight as Carroll does. At Carroll, teachers take the time to know your name. My roommate and I went grocery shopping one day, and the sweet janitor for our bathroom (who keeps Charlie's second floor super clean) was there too and said "Hi" to us. That might not matter as much to you as it does to me, but it was so kind to see that Carroll staff put in so much effort to know each student. I feel like most colleges put their reputation first, and not their students. But here at Carroll, it's the students make the reputation great. We aren't known as a party school like Arizona State is, and we sure as heck aren't popular like state schools, but Carroll has such a great reputation in Montana that those silly things can be easily overlooked.
After asking a bunch of students why they picked Carroll out of every school possible, I heard the most sincere answer ever. "I could make Helena my home," a student said. Helena has a lot to offer, even if it doesn’t seem like it. At Carroll, there is a club called CAMP, which is the Carroll Adventure and Mountaineering Program. Their mission is to help Carroll students enjoy the outdoors by biking, hiking, backpacking, climbing, floating, skiing, fishing and any other possible outdoor activity you can think of. But it wasn't just the outdoors that brought people to Carroll College. Students also said that they came here because the people are so friendly. And we aren’t just saying that. When I went to visit, the student tour leaders were so kind and enthusiastic that my mom and I just knew that Carroll was the best school we had toured.
Now, going back to the price, since that seems to scare everyone the most; Carroll is a private college and can spend their money how they want. Nearly every single student I asked the question "why Carroll?" said, "because of the scholarships." I got a bigger scholarship to go to Carroll than I did to go to Montana State University. And that's saying a lot, because it seems like everyone gets massive scholarships to MSU (sorry, Bobcats; I still love you and would have gone to your school, but I got accepted to Carroll).
Carroll College’s motto is Non Scholae sed Vitae — not for school, but for life. The Carroll staff help set you up for life. They have so many internships and opportunities for every single person here.
We may not be big, but our spirit is.
