I woke up the morning of April 29, 2017, pacing with excitement. I can vividly remember the clear, blue skies of that day. It just so happened that I was waking up in my favorite city, New York City. It was on that very day that I was set to visit the prestigious New York University. After picking up a Starbucks coffee, my mother, father, and I set out on our adventure to Greenwich Village. One quick subway ride later, we entered the Bohemian-like village and spotted purple flags on the buildings.  We had entered NYU territory.

After a busy morning of tours and meetings around Washington Square Park, I had quickly decided that this was the school I wanted to spend my collegiate years at. The bustling city and diverse atmosphere was so captivating to me, and I could not wait to get back. I had always loved New York City, but the outstanding academics and study abroad resources really opened my eyes to how amazing the school truly is. However, there was a slight problem:

How could a small town girl like me get accepted into such a prestigious institution?

From that moment on, it became my mission to be accepted into NYU.

I had already worked hard on my academics up to that point, and I knew I could not stop the pace. I knew that I had to do my research. I spent the entire summer of going into my senior year researching anything and everything that had to do with NYU. I religiously kept up with the social media pages, and it seemed that I watched college acceptance videos on Youtube every night. I had my family members get me NYU gear to showcase my Violet Pride, and proud I was. Everyone knew how much I wanted to go to this school. However, there was still the thought in the back of my mind that would not escape. With a 25% acceptance rate, how would I ever be accepted?

December 15th, 2017 had a giant star on my calendar. That was the day NYU decisions came out. I had set a timer on my phone for 4:00 pm, and it seemed like endless hours of waiting til I would find out. I remember sitting on my laptop waiting, refreshing the page furiously. Soon, the decisions opened, and honestly the next few minutes were a complete blur of joy, and happiness. It was a good thing my mother videoed the entire thing for all of the world to see!

After hundreds of congratulations, everyone expected me to attend NYU, and honestly, I expected to as well. I was so humbled that all of my hard work had paid off. I was able to relax over my Christmas break, and enjoy the holiday. At that point,I had been accepted to every school I had applied to, but I was still waiting to hear back from one more college,  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I had previously visited UNC-CH in the summer leading up to senior year. I absolutely fell in love with the place. It seemed vaguely similar to NYU, expect in a college town setting. The school spirit on campus was infectious, and I found myself joining the Carolina train. Once I told school officials that I was applying to UNC-CH as well, I was met with remarks like “That school is extremely hard to get into!” and “UNC-CH  only accpets the upperhalf of 1% OUT OF STATE STUDENT”. Both of these statements were true. But like NYU, I did my research and applied.

Soon, at the end of January, I received word that I had been accepted to UNC-CH. I now had a huge decision to make. Would I become a Tar Heel or a Bobcat? After much deliberation, I  decided to attend UNC-CH. I could not pass up attending the #1 public university in the world. I was even accepted into their Broadcast Journalism program, which is also the #1 Journalism program IN THE WORLD!

I could not be more excited to attend UNC-CH. I am nervous to travel 8 hours away, but I can not wait to experience and take advantage of all UNC has to offer. I’ll even be  attending UNC with one of my best friends! GO TAR HEELS! #UNC2022 #GDTBATH