Kenzie

03/09/2020 1:08 AM

Full disclosure, making my college decision was one of the hardest things I’ve done so far. Deciding where to spend the next four years of my life was the most stressful part of my high school career. I visited and applied to at least a dozen schools in my home state of Ohio and in Indiana. My family wanted me to stick close to home, and I tried to make it work. But, honestly, I spent about ¾ of my senior year struggling to find where I would call home.

It wasn’t until around February that I finally convinced my parents to let me begin looking further away from my small town. That’s when I found Bradley. My first trip to Bradley was a five-hour drive that my mother made on her own because I slept the whole time. The entire day was rainy and cold. Honestly, it was shaping up to be the worst college trip I had taken the entire year, and I had been on quite a few.

Except it wasn’t. Despite soaking my shoes, the awful car ride, and the bad mood my mom ended up being in, Bradley was the best college visit I had. My tour guide was named Sarah and I had never felt more included during a college trip than I did with her. She felt genuinely interested in what I had to say. She also was double majoring in the two subjects I was also hoping to study, which at the time were advertising and theatre arts. I couldn’t believe I had gotten so lucky. You don’t always get a tour guide who directly shares your interests, but luck was on my side that day.

Not only was Sarah clearly excited about Bradley and her experiences, but she could give me detailed information on both programs I was considering and the inside scoop on what it was really like to be in those majors. I couldn’t help but feed off her excitement and general happiness throughout our hour and 15-minute tour. By the end of my day, I thought to myself, “if I could be just like Sarah, and love my major and my community and my day, then I’d be making the right college choice.”

After that first trip, I ended up coming back to campus twice. Each time Sarah found me again and showed me more reasons why Bradley was meant to be my home. I owe so much to her for helping make my decision so much easier, and when I became a freshman Sarah became my big sibling in the theatre department. The connection I made with her laid the foundation for the friendships I have continued to make on-campus since. I truly feel I’ve met people who have changed my life and made my experience in college better than I could’ve expected. Bradley was the only place I truly felt that. I couldn’t imagine having chosen anywhere else.