Analogous Immersion
My College Decision Process:
When I was in school, I never had a choice of where I wanted to go. It was completely up to my dad. In fact, I unwillingly moved schools constantly and had no say in the decision. Before college, I had gone to a total of 9 different schools in 3 different states. My college decision however, was the first opportunity I actually had to pick my own school.
My goal had always been to play sports in college. Growing up a 3 sport athlete, I believed that sports would be a means for paying for college. Combining my athletic skills and good grades, I was focused on doing everything I could to go to a good college for minimal cost. I was being recruited by a few schools for football, but decided to apply to Notre Dame because of the close proximity to where I lived and the fact that my dad wanted me to at least apply. After nearly forgetting that I even applied to Notre Dame, my acceptance letter came in and I took my first visit with my family. We toured the campus and talked to people from admissions and learned that most, if not all of my schooling could potentially be paid for once the necessary information was processed. I had a few other offers to play football, but nothing as prestigious as Notre Dame, yet I was still waiting on my acceptance decision from the two ivy league schools that I had prioritized.
After getting denied, I had to decide between playing football at a few local schools for relatively little cost or going to Notre Dame for virtually no cost. When comparing the possibility of going to this prestigious university with no financial burden to my family, the decision to give up playing sports was a no-brainer. As much as my life had been capsulated by sports, making my family’s life a lot easier and more pleasurable was the only factor I really needed to consider when I chose to come here.