The school that grew on me.

The University at Albany is the last place I thought I would end up at. I applied to it with the intent of it being nothing more than my safety school.

During my first two years of high school, I had my mind set on Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, a school I've been familiar with my entire life. Then going into my junior year I started looking at other schools and opportunities, in case Lafayette didn’t work out. I started going on a college visits, and slowly but surely my eyes were opening up. It was then when I fell in love with a few other schools. UAlbany hadn’t even crossed my mind at this point. Michigan State University, or MSU, was the school of my dreams. It was the one school I visited, and knew I wanted to not only spend my undergraduate years there, but my medical school years there as well. I was hooked, it was a done deal, and that was where I wanted to end up.

Then came February of my senior year. All of my college applications were submitted at this point, and I was just waiting to hear back, or so I thought. Throughout most of my high school experience, I was part of a three year course called Science Research. The state competition was being held at SUNY Albany, and all of the seniors in Science Research went with our teacher to go see it. This was the first time I stepped foot on the academic side of UAlbany. Growing up, my family used to go to all of the home volleyball games, but that was the only part of the campus I had seen until that day. The school, for being the second largest concrete structure in the U.S. (behind the Hoover Dam), actually had a warm feeling to it. Collins Circle and the fountain is what stuck with me the most. That, and the positive atmosphere that I had ever seen. After that day, I went and applied on the SUNY website, but it still was not my favorite -- not even my second favorite. But at least now it was on my mind.

Weeks went by, and college letters started coming in left and right. I eagerly awaited the Michigan State one. It’s now the beginning of March and I have all of my letters, including UAlbany, when I finally received my MSU letter. I GOT IN. It was a done deal, I was going to Michigan. But then a few short days later when I received the financial aid package in the mail, I was heartbroken. Since I had one sibling already in college, and another who had just gotten married, there was no way in hell my parents could afford MSU for an out of state student. We tried everything in our power to call them and negotiate, but even with a scholarship it was still twice as much as all of the other schools I applied to. So now that MSU was out, I decided to go local and my options were Siena College, UAlbany, or community college for 2 years. I instantly ruled community college out because I wanted to live on campus and get the college experience.

Even though most of my family was rooting for Siena because of having family Alumni, it ultimately came down to the science programs at the school, and it was simple, UAlbany's own was years ahead of Siena’s labs. So there was my answer. I wasn’t in love with my decision, but it was done and that’s where I would go.

Fast forward to the end of summer and move-in day. At this point, I’ve come to terms with my decision and accept that this is where I’ll be and MSU can still be in my future for med school.

I moved in to my dorm, and I was extremely uncomfortable. The rooms weren’t the nicest and the atmosphere didn't feel like it did the day I went and visited. The first week of school goes by, and the classes felt the same as high school. I also hadn’t gone out of my way to make friends or get involved. It was different, and I didn’t like it. First semester I would find any reason to go home during the week. I was home every weekend and just about every other day. I wasn’t open to accepting this school as the place I was going to school. I wanted to transfer so bad. But then after Thanksgiving break, something changed. I met new people, went to different activities on campus and started to get involved. I went the first 3 months of school not even knowing where some of the buildings were and that we also had different shops I wasn’t aware about, like the 518 market and the smoothie place in the new business building. Suddenly the school didn’t seem so bad. I guess I just never gave it the chance it deserved. I started to go for runs around the campus, study outside, and meet new people.

UAlbany was starting to grow on me, a place where I could now see myself for the next four years and be happy about it. The professors here are nothing less than the best, there’s endless activities and opportunities. If you’re ever bored at UAlbany, that’s your own fault because there’s literally something going on all the time. The research opportunities they have aren’t offered anywhere else that I've applied to, as most colleges don’t even have the advanced lab equipment that Albany has. Plus I’d also like to add, on top of all of the education opportunities, the food isn’t bad either. Well I mean the options other than the dining hall. First semester the only places I ate at were the dining hall and Argo Tea. Then I finally expanded and went to the campus center and tried all of the options there. Then on top of that, they’re adding more options for the fall! Food is a huge part of what makes me happy, and seeing all the new options only made the school grow on me a bit more.

Okay enough of all the sappy details. The entire point of this article is to say, sometimes we end up at the last place we thought we would, but it’s what you make of every situation that matters. I didn’t give Albany the chance it deserved in the beginning and I was miserable. As soon as I opened my eyes to the opportunities Albany holds, I realized the school was not an awful place to be and actually a place I could come to call home.