The million dollar question: Why did I choose UGA?
As a freshman, I’m sure many of my peers get the exact same question from teachers, family friends, and football fans. We’ve given our explanations so many times now that our answers are basically a well-rehearsed monologue. Being from Alaska, my answer is probably very different. My senior class had about 100 students, and out of those 100 about 70% went to the University of Alaska, 25% went to schools in the West (such as Boise State, University of Oregon, University of Arizona, etc.), and 5% picked random schools scattered across the country. I was a part of the 5%.
I knew for a fact that staying in Anchorage would’ve just been high school 2.0- easy and safe, but lacking the environment where I could truly grow up. If I decided to be a part of the 25% , I would still be with my closest friends from high school and be paying out-of-state tuition for almost the same experience as staying in Alaska. “Somewhere far from Alaska” is not a hard criteria to fill, so I had more than enough options. My dad went to school at Young Harris College and randomly decided one day to take me to see Athens. For better or for worse, 14 year old Julie was in love. With the support of my father’s UGA koozie, I knew this was the place.
I know it sounds like something straight out of a Disney movie but sometimes you just know when you find your home. I was more than happy to get my acceptance letters to the other schools I applied to but, once I checked my UGA acceptance status, there was no doubt that this is where I would be attending school in the fall. I miss my best friends, my parents, the year-round “sweater weather,” and, of course, my puppy. The home-sickness has not entirely gone away yet. I still find myself checking flight prices back home every once in a while, but I couldn’t see myself anywhere else. 4,353 miles away, I found my home. More importantly, my father can finally wear a UGA baseball cap to a Georgia football game.