Just a quick little introduction.. I'm Lauren and I'm entering my first year of college at Saint Michael's College. I've always been intrigued with how some of my friends and family have chosen where they want to spend their next four years. Being from Salem, NH, a lot of my friends chose to attend the University of New Hampshire for several reasons from its great programs to its campus life, while others chose it solely because of financial reasons to avoid the dreaded debt that results in an easier tab at the end of the four years. Everyone has their own personal story about why they chose what school they are attending, so here's my take on why I chose Saint Mike's.
The initial excitement about college started when I heard both of my parents talk about both of their college experiences. My mom spent her memorable four years studying nursing at the University of Connecticut, while my dad attended Saint Michael's College studying Political Science. Both of them provided me with some strong insight as to why college is known to be "the best four years of your life." My first visit ended up being UConn because I was curious to see what UConn was all about. Right away, I was overwhelmed by the massive size of UConn. In a nutshell, I realized that I didn't just want to be a simple number, I wanted to be a student that my professors and classmates knew.
I went home after UConn feeling like I needed to re-evaluate my college choices. I visited other schools after UConn such as Assumption College, Clark University, and the University of New Hampshire. UNH was the same ordeal as UConn, and through Assumption and Clark, I discovered that I didn't want an urban surrounding area. I was beginning to feel stressed out about not finding my perfect fit. My dad sensed that I was stressed out and started to provided me with some reassurance that I will find my perfect fit. He began getting wrapped in his experience at SMC reminiscing on his days there, saying that if he could go back to anytime, he would go back to his Saint Mike's years. That's exactly what I wanted, an experience that would stay with me forever.
I decided to add Saint Mike's onto my list because of the beautiful Vermont area, the 11:1 student ratio, and the small campus. A few months later, I wound up at Saint Mike's for the first time, which happened to be for Accepted Students Day. As soon as I walked into SMC that day, I immediately felt welcome by the staff greeting me, and I felt like the community right away was interested in getting to know me. The day consisted of meeting professors in my major (Psychology), eating lunch with a current student, and having a group session with a panel of current students. The current students were super friendly and helpful, answering a great amount of questions that were fired at them. Once the group panel with over, I was walking around campus while students that were casually walking around on the campus were greeting me, saying "Hey! Good luck on your decision. Hope you choose Saint Mike's! ;)" Each student seemed to be so happy to be on the campus, and I soon quickly caught that happiness, as if it was almost contagious. After consulting with my parents, we both mutually agreed that this is the school for me. We went over to the Admissions office to hand in my deposit on that day. My gut instincts were telling me something that I couldn't ignore, so I knew it was the right decision.
I thought Accepted Students Day was a great experience, but I think that was just the beginning to my Saint Mike's time. Twenty-seven more days until move-in day, which means I am twenty-seven more days closer to coming to my new home. Until next time...
Lauren!
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