Ever since I was a Freshman in High School, college was the only thing I thought on my mind. I knew the colleges that I want to apply to and I knew their requirements that I need to meet. I wanted to get out of Pennsylvania or go out of state after High School and move far away from my mom. I wanted to start a new chapter in my life and meet new people.
Paying for college was the problem for me and my mom. So I have to work my butt off to get a good scholarship from a college that accepted me based on my SAT scores and GPA.
In the Summer of 2014 before my Senior year of High School, I was having a conversation with my mom about college, she wanted me to stay in-state (Pennsylvania) so it could be easy for the family but I want to go out of state because I want to start a new chapter. Then I told her I can get a scholarship that could drop my tuition down and apply for FAFSA and Grants if I get accepted to a college and run track in college. My mom agreed with me and wanted me to apply for college when it hits October.
During my Senior year of High School, I talked to my counselor about applying for colleges and send my transcript to the colleges that I'm applying to. I told her that I'm planning on running track in college, so she gave an information on NCAA. Also, I asked her to send my transcript to the colleges that I'm applying to.
On the same day after track practice, I also talked to my track coach about running track in college. During our conversation, she told me everything about being a student-athlete in college and how to balance it. My coach used to be a student-athlete at Villanova University and broke a school record over there. She knows everything about NCAA and what are the requirements to be one.
When it hit October, I was ready to apply for colleges. I applied at 4 colleges and I had to pay for the college application fees. After I applied, I emailed the track coaches from Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Fairleigh Dickinson that I'm interested to run track for their school. All of them told me to fill out the questionnaire on their website so they can look at me. Temple only has a club team, but I wanted to run competitive.
2 months later, I got few college letters. All of them were acceptance letters. I got accepted to ASU, University of Arizona, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Temple University.
After I got accepted, I had to choose what college that I want to go to in the next 4 years, but it was hard. However, I chose Arizona State University over all of the schools that I got accepted to. Here's why:
Because I wanted to get out of the cold weather and move to the west coast so I can start a new life and see new faces. And I want to live in the city. I told my mom that I want to move to Arizona for college and she said I'm allowed to. The track didn't reply to me back so I assumed I have to try out for their team when I'm a Junior. Anyway, I'm happy to say that I chose the right school and proud to be a Sun Devil. #FearTheFork
