My senior year in High School was very wishy washy. I was in a car accident to start it off and was told I have to stop playing sports. I didn’t, but hearing that if I continued to play I would have to deal with future problems did frighten me a little bit. I remember having a ton of friends in the early college program, which is a program that allows high school students to graduate with their AA degree before they even graduated high school. I always dreamed of going to college one day and the college of my dreams was Clemson University, mainly because I grew up in South Carolina and was always a Clemson football fan. I know that was a horrible reason to want to attend Clemson which is why I never put in an application.

My guidance teacher at the time knew me because I was one of the many kids she had to check up on during my four years there. Around the end of my junior year, she asked if I had any colleges in mind and the answer was always a “no” along with an “I have to go now, bye”. I didn’t want to think about college and the stress that went with it during my senior year. Senior year was supposed to be the year I remember, not the year I get so stressed out I cry on my living room floor in a fetal position. Senior year started to fly by and all my friends were getting acceptance letters into Universities all over the country. Around January is when I finally decided it was time to put up the baby blanket I wanted to hold onto my entire life. I started to look at Colleges in Florida that was close to a beach, but also known. I decided to take a look at FGCU, Florida Gulf Coast University. My family went to tour FGCU in January of 2015 and I loved it. I had a place to fish on campus, the dorm rooms were amazing, and it wasn’t too far away from home. Finally, I get home and put in an application! I was anxiously waiting for weeks and weeks and it felt like the letter would never come. Finally, I get home one evening to find a letter in my email from them. I open it to find out I was too late. The only school I was looking at couldn’t accept me because their class was full. My heart was broken but I was more scared for my future than anything.

I remember one day going into my guidance counselor's office and her telling me about something called “Instant decision day”. She told me I would get a free pass out of class and 6-10 colleges would be coming and each would have an admissions counselor there that would tell you instantly If they would like to further look into you. I happily accepted and a week later saw myself in line waiting for my name tag and transcripts. My palms were sweaty that morning and I barely could breathe I was so nervous.

For anyone who knows me, knows I love to talk to people but for some reason that morning was different. I finally grew enough courage to walk up to a booth that said “Saint Leo University” and it had a beautiful picture of the school with the majors they offer right below it. I am about fourth in line when I see a kid that I see in the hallways daily walk around laughing with his friend saying it is too expensive. I knew the beautiful picture had to be good to be true but I like to make my own assumptions.

When I finally made my way to the front, I shook hands with a woman whose name was Meaghan. I immediately give her my transcripts and start to look at the majors they offered. I was interested in a good handful of the ones they offered, but it wasn’t that hard since there were a ton to choose from. She hands me back my transcripts and tells me to fill out an application and they wanted to have me. I was so excited because this was the first university I actually saw potential in that wanted me back!

That day I continued to walk around to different booths and every booth said they would love to accept me, but Saint Leo caught my eye. I went home talking to my parents and telling them about what happened that day and we looked it up. A little over 30,000 is what it showed online, but I was determined. The next few weeks I spent online trying to get as many scholarships as I could. Meaghan, the admissions counselor, called me at least once a week to try to help me in any way she could. I knew because of how much she cared for me already that I wasn't just a number to them. Meaghan met me once and seemed to care about my future just as much as I did.

The next few months flew by. March, April, May and finally June came. I knew 100 percent I would attend Leo when I put my 500 dollar deposit down at the beginning of June. I waited until I moved in that following August and knew from the start it was not me that chose Leo, Leo chose me. Looking back now, I can’t imagine my life without Saint Leo. Saint Leo has a slogan that says “You will love the person you become here”. I’m not finished with Leo, and I already love the person I am becoming. Saint Leo really is my home away from home.