Applying to college can be a very stressful situation. Money, distance and acceptance all play a role. When I was applying to schools, all I wanted was to get out of the state and go as far away as I could. My No. 1 and dream school since I was little was Louisiana State University. I dreamed about going there and living in the south. After I was accepted, no other school mattered.
I wanted the big school experience that I dreamt of all my life. I pictured myself at every tailgate, dressed in the correct attire for each sporting event, Greek life and everything in between. I was so excited to attend and totally saw myself going there. Until all the issues began to arise ranging from money to distance to family issues.
Choosing between $10,000 debt or $130,000 worth of debt was not a difficult choice especially when you have to pay for college on your own. I was so angry that I could not attend the school I always saw myself going to, but the only logical and responsible thing to do was to opt for one of my safety schools. A month into freshman year, all I wanted to do was transfer. I saw some hometown friends having the time of their lives at the school I was meant to be at. I saw the pictures of them sporting their LSU apparel, and doing everything I was supposed to be doing, having the fun that I was supposed to be having, and I was stuck here. Rowan just wasn't cutting it for me. I didn't want to do anything I had planned to do.
It wasn't until a tour guide came up to me and asked me why I looked so miserable that things started to turn around. I told him the truth and how I was not happy being at my safety school. He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "College is what you make it. If you are going to sulk and be miserable, you aren't going to see all the awesome things going on." Rowan is about half the size of LSU and is only D3. However, there not being as many people as I imagined should not have meant I couldn't do all the things I always saw myself doing. I needed to let go of this image of my perfect college career and start making a new one. A more realistic one. One where I could truly be happy. I was not making the most of my time and after realizing this, I was eager to change that. It was time to change my perspective and stop being so negative.
By the end of the month, I was active in two clubs and starting to make new friends. Today, I would not change my choice of school for the world. It is not where you go to college, but what you do when you get there. Some days I sit and ponder about what those big tailgates and all those people could have really done for me. Would have it been worth it? This I will never know. Coming back to reality, I think about all the things I have achieved here, and the person I have become. I can be sure when I say I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I have the best people around me and unique opportunities I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere. A lot has to do with the group of supportive people I have surrounded myself with. I wouldn't give them up for anything. What good is a big school, if the people you love aren't there? They continuously make my time spent at Rowan the best time of my life.
I think about how my life would have been at LSU, but Rowan has given me nothing short of pure happiness and greatness. I am finally satisfied with my choice and loving being able to see familiar faces every day. It has become my home away from home.
