How I Chose UGA

I'll never forget the moment I knew that the University of Georgia was where I would call 'home' for the next four years of my life. It was on a hot, mid-September evening in Athens. UGA was playing a popular rival-South Carolina. This was my first game I attended in the 2015 season. It was a highly-anticipated game, the fans were wild, and campus was flooded with students, alumni, and die-hard UGA fans. My parents have had season tickets to the Georgia games for years, and my brother and I grew up going to the games. We always had to walk through campus to get to the stadium, and naturally, I would be people-watching, but this particular time was different. Instead of watching people who had obviously had too much to drink already, I found my focus was on the buildings through North Campus. (A little history lesson, Georgia was the first state to charter a state-supported university/college in the year of 1785. So yeah, some of the buildings are old.) I noticed how beautiful the design of each building was, and how those stones and bricks represented a place that prepared so many people for their future. I remember looking over to my mom and saying, "I know this is where I'm supposed to be." Naturally, she replied, "Well, I hope you can do whatever it takes to get accepted!" ha!

As Taylor Swift once said, 'And that was the moment I knew'.  

Sometimes in life, you have these moments of affirmation or realization that you are supposed to be in a place, at a certain time, with a certain group of people. That night was the moment I knew UGA was were I was supposed to be. My only problem was that I had to await my acceptance letter, which came some 6 months later. The wait was miserable but definitely worth it!

So, my advice...

Hopefully, all of you upcoming seniors applying to college will have your 'Taylor Swift moment' like I did. Most people have a gut feeling, but some do not. Some just go to a college because they were forced to or it wasn't their first choice. I know that with a couple of colleges I did visit besides UGA, I did not have a gut feeling that that was where I belonged. For example, I visited Ole Miss last August and nothing clicked for me. My parents absolutely adored Oxford and the campus but it just wasn't for me. Do not feel pressured to settle on a school that you will not be happy going too. Seriously. Your personal happiness is so important, especially since you'll be living on your own for the first time. Of course you can transfer schools or even take a gap year. Whatever you have to do to make sure you are happy, do it. If that means not attending the college your parents did, like me, then do it!!

I wish you all happiness and best of luck this school year.

xx, Carly