Disclaimer: These are based off my experiences and only my opinions, and I mean no offense to anyone who may take it.
Not many people can say that they have attended 4 colleges, especially over the past two and a half years. This is my personal story on how I finally found the school I now call home, Saint Mary’s College of Notre Dame.
I went to a high school in Northern Utah that has a connection with Weber State University. In my graduating class of 2015, 90 out of the 120 graduates also graduated with an Associate’s degree; I personally, was half a credit from my degree and thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life, Engineering.
With some college under my belt I knew one thing for sure, I did not want to go to school in Utah. So, when I did not get into my first-choice school, Notre Dame, I applied and was accepted to Grand Canyon University, a Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. I figured that I would go there until I was able to transfer to Notre Dame.
Little did I know that I was in for the roughest four months of my life. When I started at GCU I found that none of the promises they made were kept, especially the transfer of my 60 plus credits, and that it was quickly becoming a party school, something I was not ready for. After a few weeks of nightly fire alarms, from people smoking in their rooms, drunken roommates, and finding business cards for prostitutes spread over the grounds; I fell into a deep depression. In the haze of depression, I forgot to drop classes and ended up failing all of my classes. My once high GPA, dropped drastically.
I quickly decided to go back home and try and raise my GPA at a school I knew. I spent Spring 2016 at Weber State, living with my parents until my family had to move. While my parents made the move from Utah to Michigan, I stayed with my grandmother to finish out the semester. During this time, I found out about Notre Dame’s sister school, Saint Mary’s College, and fell in love. When I finally made my way to Michigan I had raised my GPA almost 2 points, but it still wasn’t high enough to transfer to Saint Mary’s.
In the fall of 2016 I started at Grand Rapids Community College, in the hopes of raising my GPA even more. My other goal was to use a creative writing class to decide if engineering was really what I wanted to do. When I discovered how hard calculus is and how much I loved writing, I decided to change my major.
I then spent two semesters there raising my GPA until I was up to a 3.0, half a point from my high school graduating GPA. I started the transfer process as quickly as I could, sending emails and getting to know the admissions staff. When I got my acceptance letter, I was over the moon. I had finally gotten to where I felt I was meant to be.
This fall, 2017, I started my new beginning at Saint Mary’s. I have been here for almost 6 weeks now and I feel more at home than I have felt anywhere before. Here I will finish my dual degree in Literature and Writing by 2020, making my program a little longer than planned.
The time it took to find my home and the extra time to finish my degree is inconsequential. I am happy to be here and am now ready to begin my adult life and can’t wait to see where it takes me. My one piece of advice is to not let depression or tough times get in the way of accomplishing your dreams. I will leave you with my favorite quote from JK Rowling: “Rock bottom is the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”