Dear high school senior considering UGA,
“Go dawgs”—when I first arrived on campus, I didn’t understand how those words would be irrevocably ingrained into my vocabulary. To me, there’s magic hiding in those words, a magic that reaches far beyond Saturday in Sanford Stadium. I am incredibly thankful that this magic is a part of my life, but I never planned for that to be the case.
I could spend all day spouting statistics about how UGA is an amazing state school with incredible academic resources and some of the greatest people you will ever meet, but you’ve already read the website and all the promotional materials. At this point, generic statements won’t help you make your decision, so I’m hoping that my story can.
The night I accepted UGA’s offer of admission, I cried. They weren’t happy tears, either—it was a messy, bawling, everyone-is-asleep kind of cry. I felt like I had surrendered my dreams in favor of practicality. But after finishing most of my freshman year, I am completely overcome with love and appreciation for this great bulldawg nation.
At home, my back porch is decorated completely with red and black. I have cheered on the dawgs since I was a kid, but my family never planned for me to attend UGA. I grew up buried in a suburban bubble where I was raised on books, pushed towards perfection, and inspired to dream bigger than a state school. My application list was full of fancy names and Gothic-style buildings, but when decision day came in April, I ultimately pushed aside my dream school and became the newest member of UGA’s freshman class.
Summer passed with a hint of bitterness and a lot of anxiety, but in July, I attended Dawg Camp, and my perspective on UGA completely changed. From that weekend up to this day, I’ve met so many passionate, exciting, and intelligent leaders, both as my peers and as my mentors. When people say that UGA students are spectacular, they aren’t lying. I love my high school friends, but the new people I have met at UGA are some of my favorite people in the world.
As I walk to class across the beautiful quads of North Campus or past the hallowed ground of Sanford Stadium, I sometimes become overwhelmed with how happy I am to be here. I truly believe that any student will end up loving whatever college they go to as long as they go in with a positive attitude, but I hope you will chose UGA.