Coming from sunny Long Beach, California and making the move all the way to the lovely corn fields of the U of I campus, the question I get asked the most often is undoubtedly, "Why would you leave the beautiful weather in southern California?" Although this is a question I get asked too many times to count, it is actually the question that I love to answer the most. So, without further ado, here is my spiel on why I would trade some sun for some snow.

First of all, It doesn't snow here on campus all of the time. The one downside about living in southern California is that you never really get to see the seasons change. Yes, there may be a slight drop or hike in temperature to hint at the difference between winter and summer, but overall, it's always sunny and green. But, when making my decision about where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life, I thought that Chambana was the perfect location. It's not too far up north by Chicago that it gets too cold for comfort and it is the most beautiful place to be during the fall. Coming to campus with a fresh start at the beginning of the school year, there's nothing that makes me smile more than the cozy feeling of fall and seeing all of the leaves on the trees change color. Plus, I wanted to come here for the experience. It's not like I'm living here for the rest of my life, so might as well live a little and experience some real changes in weather, at least for the next four years. That way, when I do move back to California but happen to be called into Chicago for a business trip in the winter, the weather won't be a huge shock.

Secondly, it's the gosh darn University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that I go to! The home of the infamous Fighting Illini. It only helps that my favorite colors are orange and blue too! This campus, this school, and this community is by far the best I have ever seen. Being a student-athlete, I'd say that I definitely experience the fact that we are all a huge family on a whole new level. I feel truly lucky to be able to live in a Campustown like this one. Everywhere you go the people and even the businesses are repping the block I. It's really special to be able to walk into a restaurant with one of the sports posters from your school hanging up and to be able to walk out of your local McDonald's with your school logo on it. You can't find this kind of stuff in California. There are so many universities and everyone is rooting for a different school that you just don't feel that special kind of comradery and unity within your community. You walk into your local Walmart here in Champaign and shout out an "I-L-L!" and there's absolutely no doubt you'll get an "I-N-I!" back.

Another reason why I decided to come here was, of course, the academics and the school in general. As a business student, UIUC has one of the best business schools in the nation. Most recently, one of our alumni, Larry Gies, and his wife, Beth, were generous enough to donate $150 million to help strengthen our business school even more. With 61,981 living alumni spreading across each state in the US in addition to 128 countries around the world, the presence of the Illini in business is everywhere you look.

Plus, students here are from everywhere. It's so interesting to meet so many people from different cultures. But, being a part of the Philippine Student Association on campus, it's also interesting to see how many people here share the same culture as I do. Speaking of organizations, our school has over 1,600 student organizations. Being from California, I am blessed to be able to have made some of my closest friends and my home away from home through the five organizations I am a part of.

Although this last point may be a little more meaningful for some than most, one of the big reasons why I came here was because of our athletic program. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit the U of I campus in only my sophomore year of high school and honestly, it was love at first sight. As soon as I came onto campus, I could just feel the energy of the Fighting Illini radiating everywhere. When I met the coaches of the golf team and the various support staff in the athletic department, I knew that this was not only the place that I could really grow as a golfer but as a person as well. Within the golf team, we focus on things other than golf as well such as developing leadership skills, improving physical and mental health, and also just building better interpersonal relationships. Plus, our athletic department does a great job of this as well. Our mission statement is "Unify. Develop. Inspire. Achieve." and I think that there is so much power in the simplicity of these four words. Our programs not only want to achieve on the playing field but also in the classroom. We not only want to develop our skills in our sports but also in social environments. We not only want to unify and inspire our teams but also unify and inspire our community through things like our Hometown Heroes community service projects. Here at Illinois, I was given the opportunity to spread my wings, come out of my comfort zone, and deep dive into some new adventures, ones I just couldn't get if I stayed home where everything was familiar. The values that the athletic department has on this campus aligned with my personal values quite well. As a student-athlete, this is the perfect place to be.

I have to admit, coming here my freshman year was definitely a little scary. I didn't have any winter jackets. I didn't know how to drive in the snow. Where did all of the mountains go? Anyway, looking back after living here for almost two years, this was the best decision I've ever made, and I definitely could not see myself going anywhere else for college. So, if you ask me why I traded some sun for some snow, my answer is clear: I bleed orange and blue, plain and simple.