It is senior year of high school. My family has lived in GA approximately 2 years, as we moved the middle of my sophomore year, October to be exact. (That was 15 years ago, yikes!) The time to apply for colleges comes around. I have good grades, I could probably get into any school in the state that I choose, UGA, GA State, GA Southern, North GA, the list goes on. I am not quite sure which to choose. I am not from GA. It wasn’t drilled in me at a young age that I was going to graduate from a certain school because all my family did, blah blah blah. In fact, I was the first (and only as of now) in my immediate family to graduate from college, so the standards and expectations were set pretty low.
One day at lunch, my friend Shelley says “So, Nadine….where have you applied?” I reply, “Well you see…errr…um. Well I haven’t. I am not sure where to go. I know nothing about any of the schools here.” Shelley says, “You should apply to West Georgia, I got accepted. We could be roommates!” Shelley may not know this, but she had me at roommates. This would take ALL the guess work out of trying to pick some where and decide where the hell I was going to live. To a high school student that just moved from a small town, going to GA State in downtown Atlanta scared the shit out of me. Who would have thought I would be living in downtown Atlanta after college, knowing it like the back of my hand?! But I digress.
I coolly replied to Shelley, “West Georgia? I haven’t heard of it. Where is it exactly?” Shelley says, “It is in West Georgia, duh Nadine!” We both laugh. She then says, “It is in a town called Carrollton. The campus is really quaint and pretty. I think it would be a lot of fun.” I say, “Cool. I will look in to it.”
That night I went home, applied to UWG and told my parents I had made a decision of where I wanted to go to school. They had a Real Estate department, which is what I thought I would want to major in and I had a roommate already lined up. Winning. UWG was the only school I applied for. I didn’t even see the campus before I decided. My first visit was for freshmen orientation. True story.
So you see folks, sometimes I am just a follower. It turned out alright. I have my BBA in Real Estate, I made some great friends while at UWG and I have many found memories of Shelley and I as roomies in the dorms our first year! Go Braves! Because that is what the mascot was when I was at UWG. Now they are the Wolves. Seriously? Whatever. WEST SIIIIIIIIIDE!
6 Comments
They changed the mascot? Crazy!
I think college is such an arbitrary choice. It was for me, anyway. And a lot of people I know. Knowing someone who was going there was as good of a reason as any.
You live downtown? We seriously need to have a blate. I live off of Howell Mill just north of the connector. I mean, that is seriously crazy! I had no idea you were downtown!
And sometimes it’s the spontaneous decisions that we make that are the best. Auburn was the only school I applied for too.
I think it’s refreshing to hear about people who don’t go crazy choosing colleges. I was a follower, too. I just went to the university in my city. Didn’t think twice about anywhere else. Then, a year later, I needed a big change, and went from Kansas to Winthrop University in South Carolina. Also sight unseen! haha But those are the best memories 🙂
At first I had big dreams of going to college in Maine… then I got scared and ended up going to a local college so I wouldn’t have to move out of my parent’s house. I might have missed out on some of the college dorm party life, but I don’t have many regrets. And it sounds like your decision worked out good for you also! Being a follower isn’t always a bad thing! 🙂
i chose my college away from home because i had always heard that Western U was a party university. when i heard that i was like, I NEED TO BE THERE. so i did. and the first time i went to that campus was during orientation. didn’t even research the school or anything. so i guess i’m sort of a follower too?
I was a follower, and then I wasn’t. All my friends applied to UT because we were guaranteed admission. And then I decided not to go for various reasons and stayed in Houston. And it all worked out. I hate that I didn’t have the college experience, but at least I got a degree! It all worked out in the end for both of us!