I entered my senior year of High School with major academic confidence (mainly due to my father’s constant accolades that were oblivious to my report cards). My ego was quickly hindered beginning with my first day of pre-calculus – I am an atrocious mathematician – and the numerous AP courses I was taking on top of being a year-round athlete and active member of several clubs and extra curriculars. I was applying to very prestigious schools in the northeast area which were all relatively close to my hometown. Initially, being close to home was very important to me. I have always adored New England and did not see the point in leaving.
My older brother, Miles, is a senior at St. Lawrence. When he applied first round early decision when I was just a freshman in high school, I really did not know much about the university, but knew that loads of my parent’s friends and their children had attended. Obviously, when college application season rolled around, Miles was insistent on me applying to St. Lawrence. At the time, I thought that the SLU was way too far and too remote, but I applied on a whim since I did not need to write another supplementary essay.
I applied early decision to Wellesley College and applied early decision round two to Smith College. I got rejected by both schools which came as a shock to both me and my family. I was absolutely devastated. Luckily, I applied to a grand total of fourteen schools, so I still had a lot of options to hear back from. My mother, who has always been a fan of “having all of her chickens in her nest,” was not too keen of the idea of sending another one her kids so far away. My sister, Olivia, attended Mount Holyoke College, which is a mere hour and a half from my house. Once I got accepted to Mount Holyoke, my mother and my sister were very insistent on me going there (for reasons that I understand). While Mount Holyoke is a fabulous institution that I am so grateful provided my sister with an amazing education and experience, I did not feel that it was the right place for me. When I toured St. Lawrence, I understood why my brother loved it so much. I had an incredible tour guide and was treated as an individual, not just a number. They made me feel special. I could not seem to wipe the smile off of my face during my long, but worth it, eight-hour car ride home. Fast forward to January, my winter break seemed like the perfect time to visit my brother. A close friend from my hometown, Kelly, who had already committed to SLU, came with me to spend a weekend with my brother in his quad in Dean (their room was a DISASTER!). Everyone made me feel so welcome and I got to get a sense of the strong community that SLU is so proud of. There was not one person that I met that was not nice or did not have a smile on their face. I wanted to be that happy. That is when I knew this was the place for me. To this day, I do not second guess or regret my decision to attend St. Lawrence. I now understand why everyone told me that I had made one of the best decisions of my life; they were right!
Images: stlawu.edu, alittlebitoflacquer.blogspot.com