WordPress Blog Post: A Journey Like No Other

The best way to start a story is from the beginning. This is somewhat of a beginning to my story. This is...an honest background.

I was born and raised in the beautiful city of San Jose, California. I'm also the youngest of seven siblings who've paved somewhat of a path before me...but I wanted something different.

High school. We all "love" that time of our lives...

I wouldn't say I was the "best" student in high school, but I was a very passionate student. I placed my focus on extracurricular activities and pursued leadership positions in Key Club, the school newspaper, youth ministry, and many, many more clubs. I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world.

Let's just say college wasn't anywhere in my radar senior year of high school. I even procrastinated on a lot of my college applications (yikes don't do that, seniors!). I did little to no research on what school I wanted to go to, what major I wanted to pursue, or who I wanted to be. How could a 17 year old make such a big decision?

I became caught up in the titles and rankings of universities. I felt overwhelmed and lost.

"It doesn't matter where you go to college. It's what you make of your experiences during college that makes all the difference."

Boy, did I hear this phrase a lot in high school. If this phrase was supposed to comfort me, it didn't really help at the time.

I'm going to be honest. I got rejected to a lot of schools. Like, a LOT. And that hurt.

Did I not have the highest GPA? Probably. Could I have spent more time on the applications? Maybe.

This might sound like an excuse, but it's the truth. I was just literally so caught up in finishing high school on a strong note that I didn't have much guidance on life after it.

While all my friends were getting into schools and I wasn't, I felt myself spiraling and even more confused.

To make things even more complicated, I ended up being tied between University of San Francisco and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I even declared to friends a few times that I would be going to one of these schools just to make them shut up and to stop asking me what my plans were after senior year. Because in all honesty, I didn't know. Plot twist: I also didn't end up going to any of those schools.

I made that decision after being asked this question:

"If you could study anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

And at that moment, for the first time in my life, I felt as if I had the world in my hands.

Long story short, after graduating from high school, I decided to follow in the footsteps of my sister and go to the middle of nowhere... Iowa! No, that wasn't the answer to the previous question...and if I could study anywhere in the world, I don't think I'd study in Iowa (sorry).

At the time, my sister was a graduate student at Iowa State University and asked if I would like to live with her for a year to get situated and out of California.

"You can study here for a bit and then transfer to wherever you'd like to"

The idea of transferring was very uneasy for me. I remember feeling as if I was going to miss out on that "first year experience." I remember feeling as if I was losing in the "race" against my friends. When in reality, it was the race between no one else but myself.

I needed to take a step back.

After all, no college experience is the same.

Going out of state, starting over, attending the community college--this was the biggest blessing in disguise.

While I was so nervous about temporarily dropping my life and everything and everyone I knew in California, I knew I needed a fresh start.

I ended up attending Des Moines Area Community College and eventually was cross-enrolled at Iowa State University.

I knew from the start that Iowa wouldn't be where I'd want to spend my college years and yet I still stayed. Though it was a very, very rough transition, I grew from every challenge. I enjoyed it and I would almost say I thrived for a bit (check out the LinkedIn!)

Iowa: It was where I first learned to drive, where I first voted, and where I made my first true friends.

So to anyone who claims that Iowa is in the middle of nowhere, yes I completely agree. But for me, it became so much more than that.

...

But this is not the story of how I got to Iowa or how I survived in Iowa, this is the story of how my high school years and Iowa lessons worked to shape who and where I am today.

I'm now a student at Boston University studying Public Relations. I'm a transfer student.