When I started my college search, my goal was to get as far away from home as possible. I wanted to experience the world outside of Indianapolis. My dad and I went on a trip to visit the University of Maryland, and by the time that we were halfway there, I had already decided that I didn't want to go to school 10 hours away.

We got caught in a snowstorm, and my dad reminded me that if I were to go to a school this far, there is a possibility that I could get snowed in or that my family wouldn't be able to visit as much. I realized how much I would be missing out on if I would have gone to school so far away.

So, I changed my radius, and all the schools I applied to were no more than 5 hours away, the furthest being in Tennessee. However, when it came down to really decide where I was going to be spending the next 4 years, maybe more, of my life, it was between Loyola Chicago and Butler.

The only thing that was pushing me away from Butler was the fact that my high school is literally 5 minutes away. Having gone to the International School of Indiana since 7^th grade, I had been on Butler's campus a thousand times. We used to go work out in the HRC during the winter for our gym class because it is that close. The lower school, up to grade 4 (or 5 I'm not sure), is directly across from Hinkle. I felt like I couldn't be happy in a place not only close to my house but one so close to where I had spent so much of my time.

Alas, here I am writing fo Butler Odyssey, and I couldn't be more grateful. The first time that I felt I could really see myself being at Butler was when I got to sit courtside at a game on December 19^th, 2017. Being in the atmosphere of the game and watching the student section and how genuinely happy everyone seemed really opened my eyes to seeing Butler as a place where I could be genuinely happy. But it was still 5 minutes from my high school, and I had always pictured myself leaving Indiana for college, so choosing Butler seemed like a step back.

The moment that I knew I was meant to be a Bulldog, was when I shadowed. My True Blue, Murph, (shout out to her), made me feel so welcomed. All the people that I met in the short time I was there on campus, and in class, were funny and so incredibly kind. In all the classes I went to, the teachers introduced themselves to me and welcomed me to their class, and that was something I hadn't experienced at the others school I shadowed at. I left that day with a BU pullover, walked into my house, and announced that I had chosen where I wanted to be.

Looking back, I find it hilarious how against Butler I was all because it was so close to my high school. I was terrified that I would feel like I hadn't grown up because I was so close. I was so wrong. Every time I step on campus, I feel like I'm in a different place, the right place. It doesn't matter that it's close to the place where I made so many incredible memories, because now I'm making so many more incredible ones. The Butler bubble, for me, is a place like no other. It's a place that feels like it could be 5 minutes from my high school, or 5 states away because whenever I'm there I simply feel like I'm at home.