As I’m working through my leadership camp, I’m getting asked a lot of questions like, “What’s your major?” and “Where are you from?” But most frequently I am asked: “Why did you choose UNC?” There’s a lot of reasons I chose UNC and a lot of reasons why I didn’t choose to go anywhere else. However, there needs to be a little background before I can really start explaining why UNC. (For my southern friends, no, not North Carolina. Northern Colorado).

Like a lot of other freshmen in high school, I thought I knew exactly where I wanted to go for college. My friends and I were major (and I mean major) fans of Doctor Who and Harry Potter. So of course we all wanted to attend Oxford University. I especially wanted to because what an adventure that would be! There was even a rumor that the university had robes just like Harry Potter! How cool is that?

Well...that phase ended fairly quick and I moved on to thinking maybe I wanted to go to NYU. The city seemed amazing (to a girl who’s never been to Manhattan in her life), and I thought that it would be for me. Plus, I would have family to visit in New York and the nearby state of Connecticut. Awesome! Well, this college idea also fizzled out after I realized I am not a fan of big cities. At all.

So then as I neared the beginning of my junior year of highschool I heard about a place called UNC. I hadn’t really heard of it before, and to be honest, I didn’t even know it existed until a teacher of mine was describing where he went to school. So I thought, why not look it up?

I Googled the school and learned a little bit about it and went along with my life. In the meantime, I was now starting to think about Montana as a potential new home. I had looked into it and decided the campus was pretty but I was still unsure. In the late fall of my junior year, an opportunity arose for me to visit two colleges in a weekend: CU Boulder and the University of Northern Colorado. (A four day weekend to be exact)

That Friday, we drove up to Boulder and took the tour of the school. And unfortunately I wasn’t very impressed (sorry Boulder). The campus just didn’t feel right to me. I left hoping that when I visited UNC the following Monday that it would be better. And for me, it was.

I instantly fell in love with the campus because it was smaller than the others I’d seen and it felt more like a home. Since that visit I had been obsessed with getting into the school, and in the fall of my senior year, I was accepted into my dream school. (It was also the only one I applied for).

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me explain what enticed me to UNC rather than any of the other colleges I visited or thought I might like to apply for.

1.The Campus

The campus at UNC is absolutely gorgeous in my opinion and even though it might be a little spread out, it’s perfect for me. The campus is split into West and Central with a big building called the University Center in between. West campus is home to an amazing library, rec center and my lovely home, Lawrenson Hall. Central has beautiful architecture and a pretty neat outdoor theater. When I visited for the first time (and on the three other visits that followed) I fell in love.

2. My major

This was fairly important when deciding on a college because what was the point of going if it didn’t have my intended major. For those who don’t know, I am a history major with an emphasis in secondary education which means I want to teach high school. UNC became my number one choice once I found out they were recognized for their teacher education program. (Fun fact: This school is so popular for teaching that the original mascot was the UNC Teachers before it become the UNC Bears).

3. It’s Close to home

I had some anxieties about going away to college so it’s perfect for me that my university is just a short trip home. I love my mom and dad and to be honest, I really didn’t want to leave them, so again, it’s good they’re close by. It’s always good to be close to your support system. Plus, I had to leave my cat at home and I want to see her occasionally too.

4. Campus Culture

The people on campus are amazing. The overall atmosphere and culture are welcoming and make everyone feel like home. It’s the perfect kind of campus where everyone accepts others for who they are and there’s so much diversity--which makes it very different from the little town I grew up in.

5. Friends

Now, this wasn’t as much as a deciding factor as a perk. I’m blessed to know many people going into my freshman year of college whereas most people don’t.

Those are the main reasons why I chose the University of Northern Colorado as my school, and so far, I can’t say I regret it (and I don’t think I will). To all my readers who are still thinking about where you want to go to college, keep these things in mind as you decide. What will you choose?