My dream of being the first in my family to attend college started from a young age, so it sort of became the essence of who I am. Throughout middle and high school, I would always change where I wanted to go, what I wanted to study (although I usually kept the same list of liberal arts schools and writing or English-based majors). By the time senior year of high school came, I knew I wasn't going to be able to afford going to a university right away. After graduating, I started attending a community college in the area. It gave me ample time to really figure out if I wanted to study what I love or what would make the most money, which would therefore help me figure out which schools to apply to.
Then, January 2016 rolled around. I was going to be graduating from my community college in May, so it was time to apply to transfer to a university. By that time, I was 20 and had decided to study either English or Creative Writing--it really depended on the school since most universities do not have a creative writing undergraduate program. I had chosen four schools to apply to: Winthrop University (Rock Hill, South Carolina), New York University (New York City) and both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Wilmington. I had been to all four schools' campuses and loved them all. While I ended up not applying to NYU due to personal reasons, I still applied to Winthrop, UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Wilmington. While I was waiting for each response, I truly didn't know which school I wanted to go to.
Months passed by and I had gotten accepted to all three universities. My pro/con list was quite extensive...I mean, if I chose Winthrop, I would be moving back home and would be reunited with my best friend and brother. If I chose Chapel Hill, I would have been closer to home.
It turned out that UNC Wilmington had the most pros. I would be near the beach, I would get to study what I really wanted to--as well as get a certification in publication!--and I would get to move to a new city and start over. I loved the campus so much, one of my oldest friends goes there and I truly felt so at home any time I would visit campus. Last time I visited, I actually had said to my friend something along the lines of, "Wow, my classes are so far away from home;" in regards to how my on-campus apartment was a good 20 minute walk to the creative writing building. It was only the fourth time I was ever on campus, and at that point I didn't move in for a month!
By the time this article is published, I will be moving in to my apartment; I couldn't be more excited to be a Seahawk.
