The Right Choice
Well, it certainly has been awhile. I think the last few times I wrote were after significant events in my life. This time the significant event seems to take more precedence. For a long time I wanted to go to Wartburg. It seemed like the school for me. Of course I was accepted to the U of I and then it was a possibility. Once I was accepted to Wartburg, Iowa completely left the scene. It still really isn't in the scene but now I have been accepted to the University of Minnesota, more specificially the Carlson School of Management. I sort of applied there because I knew it was an excellent business school and to see if I could get in I guess. I applied but never really thought about it much after that, it was just a school I had seen and I really wanted to go to Wartburg.
Earlier in January I traveled to Wartburg to participate in the Regeants Scholarship Day. The trip was there was lets just say, eventful. It was particularly nice that highway 14 closed not 5 minutes before we got to it and it took us 3 and 1/2 hours to get there. Waverly is a little over 2 hours on a good day. Anyway, I wrote me essay and my hands sweat profusely as I endured the interview I had anticipated to be the hardest and turned out to be fun. It was a good experience and I think that I probably banked a little more after my of course outstanding answers.
The problem comes when people ask me why I want to go to Wartburg. The truth is I honestly don't know. Don't get me wrong, there are definitley things that I love about the school and there are things that set is apart from the other schools I visited, but truly, I haven't seen anything but a small, private college. This is why being accepted to MN made my life a big mess again. I started thinking about going to Wartburg and then if maybe I did want to go to a big school. Before this, I had overheard my mom and dad talking on our way home from Scholarship day, sorry mom and dad, they thought I was asleep. They were talking about the day and the school and the pros and cons and I heard my mom say that that day she truly felt like Wartburg was the place that I was supposed to be. She had been up there with me twice previously and everytime she asked me what I liked and why I wanted to go there and everytime I said the same thing. When I heard her say that she truly felt that Wartburg was the right place for me I was over joyed. I finally felt like I had done something right in the mass chaos that is chosing the right school.
Everyone told me that picking a school was up to me and that I had to do it by myself. Now, I usually consider myself a pretty independent person and I am sure most of you who know me would agree. But chosing a college is such an important decision that I didn't want to screw it up. I am ultimately deciding the rest of my future in the next 3 months and I wanted some help. When I heard my mom say that she thought I had made the right decision I felt like I actually had. Now that I have been accepted to the U of M I am confused again. Part of the problem is that MN gave me the highest scholarship they offer. I received 11,000 dollars to attend their university and the only way to get more was to live in MN. The package they mailed me was pretty impressive and when I told my parents they decided it was probably a good idea to get me up to the campus. So that is exactly what I am doing this weekend.
This weekend I am traveling to MN on Friday with my show choir. We are competing at Waconia HS on Saturday and then stopping by the Mall of America on the way home on Sunday. While everyone else loads the charter busses headed for J-Town, I will be getting in my mom's van and heading back to the hotel for one more night. Monday morning I have a campus visit at the biggest Big Ten(or eleven but whose counting) school in the conference. The U of M is like the 2nd biggest school in the nation or something as well. So, I was set on Wartburg and now I am starting to wonder if it is truly where I want to go. I know that of all the small schools I visited, it is the school I want to go to, I also know that the U of I, while still a very good school, isn't necessarily right for me, and after I visit the U of M, I am hoping to know that either Wartburg is the place for me, or maybe I want to go to MN. Either way, in case any of you decide to ask me where I want to go, I am undecided. However, it is between the U of M, and Wartburg. And Tony, you can give me your list of reasons why I should to go Iowa but my guess is I wont do it. Lo Siento....
Word of the Day:
Profanation: making something sacred common
Cochinillo Asado: roast-suckling pig
posted by GRANDE @ 3:24 PM
2 Comments:
Hmmm, I don't think my point was very clearly made. I'm not saying you SHOULD go to the U of I. I would love for that to happen but mostly for selfish reasons. As you are completely aware, there are pros and cons to the big school small school debate. As it turns out, I'm glad I went to the middle of the road school and got to kind of make a name for myself there. Your dad will no doubt comment on just what that name was.
I think Wartburg is a great school, in fact, I know it is. I also know that they take great care to find their graduates jobs well before they graduate and have connections for outstanding interships while you are going to school, not to mention study abroad opportunities, something I wish I had looked into and know you would be interested in.
I think Iowa City is about the fourth best city in the midwest to live in. Medium size might even make it better than that just because traffic isn't such an issue but you still get a majority of the cultural shit. Yes, cultural shit. I also know that it has a comparable University to Minnesota in a far less scary city and one that is about 3-4 hours closer to your home. To me, being a short drive from home was a big deal, and I think you might find once you are into this that it will be for you too. But, for a lot of people it isn't a problem, for a lot of people it works out just fine being a long way away from their families.
My other question is this: What if you decide business management is not what you want to do? I don't know how that would effect your scholarship or your choice overall, so it's something to think about anyway. Also, take into consideration the stipulations of the scholarships offered and how realistic they are. I know a lot of these schools really push the 4-year grad pact now. While I know you are a better and more dedicated student than I ever was, I think the 4-year thing is almost rediculous. If ALL you want to do is get the degree, it isn't. But those people that say college was the best 5 or 6 years of their lives say it for reason. Call me a flunky if you like, but more doors were opened for more opportunities because I was at UNI one year longer. Plus I got to have a shitload more fun.
You SHOULD go to Minnesota, as you are this weekend because you never know, it might be the one that jumps out and grabs you as the place you want to be. I still want to spend some part of my life living in a big city, and I'm guessing that's something you want at some point too. I'm just saying if it's the big school thing you want, make sure you balance it against the increased cost and the distance, because Iowa is VERY comparable, UNI has a GREAT business school, and from what I know, Wartburg will do everything they can to put you where you want to be.
Finally, I have to tell you that most of the debate will eventually be moot. And this is where you are wrong:
But chosing a college is such an important decision that I didn't want to screw it up. I am ultimately deciding the rest of my future in the next 3 monthsPicking the school is not the end-all you make it out to be. I picked wrong on my first try...it all worked out in the end. Also, whatever one you do pick, it's up to you to make it fit. Diving in is the way to go, I hung back with old high school friends and never really got involved independently at Iowa. Then I went to UNI and found the newspaper. Had I walked into the DI my freshman year, I would have been fine in Iowa City. But I spent too much time in my room with the door closed talking to ex-girlfriends on the phone and going home every weekend to make out with them. That was lame. I wish I had gotten to know the guys on my floor, sat with complete strangers at lunch, and I wish more than anything that I would have nailed that hottie in my rhetoric class. Brittany Henry...damn...she was totally out of my league (like Sara) but she dug my short stories and boyish charm.
There, had to lighten up all that advice. That's all I have for you. I'm not saying the choice doesn't matter, I'm just saying it isn't life or death, you will be fine no matter what you decide. The choice you make is the right one.
Grande, We are going to go, leave the pressure behind and take the 1hour and 50min. tour of the campus. No more 30 min tours!! We are going to the BIG TIME or is that BIG TEN. We will make decisions later. When we put too much pressure on then we get too crazy and we don't communicate well. Let's just go and see what they have to offer. You Have an idea of what you want just make sure if they don't tell you what you want to hear, you ask the questions, this is your shot, the best way to make the decision is to be informed. I know that you are not scared to strike out on your own as Tipton Tony alludes to, You are the opposite end of the spectrum, you are the girl who will be able to go to Spain or Mexico on your own next year and I will have to sit in DSM and worry because I know that you will take chances because you can take care of yourself too well. SOOO NO woories. Lets woory more about InnunciuAtion and Waconia finals and David Of the Cocaine. We are going to have fun this weekend and have 4-5 hours to hash out the entire Uof M thing on the way home. More fun in the car with me. MRS. Robinson
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