Trying to decide whether to go to school close to home or farther away can be a daunting task for a lot of people. I talked with Jordan Beachboard, a junior at the University of Delaware to discuss her decision to go to school in-state.
Her Campus: What area of Delaware are you from?
Jordan Beachboard: I’m from Millsboro, Delaware. It’s about an hour and a half away from UD, near the beaches of Delaware.
HC: Why did you decide to go to UD?
JB: I came to UD because of financial reasons. Mainly because of in-state tuition but also the program that I’m in is really good for graduate school. In order to get into the career that I want I have to go to graduate school, and the program at UD covers all of the pre-requisite courses that I need. I also feel that UD has a lot of opportunities for me to enjoy my college career and make the most of it.
HC: Do you ever wish you had gone to a school out of state?
JB: Yeah, I’ve always wondered what it was like to go to school out of state. My brother went to school out of state and he had a very different experience than me because he went to school in a city and I wondered what it would be like to be in a different area that I’ve never been in.
HC: Do you often run into people you know from high school?
JB: I see people not only from my high school but also my hometown and surrounding areas. People always joke that ‘everyone in Delaware knows everyone in Delaware’ and that is especially true for people in my area. Everyone usually knows everyone from the surrounding high schools, so it’s really funny when I come to school and I’m like ‘Oh, I know you’ and I have class with someone that I didn’t really know but I knew of them.
HC: Would you say that you are able to go home more often than your friends that live out of state?
JB: Yeah, I feel like I get to go home a lot more, especially compared to my friends that live 3+ hours away. I definitely go home more than them, they really go home for breaks and holidays, whereas I go home if I’m having a bad weekend. Not only that, but before Covid, my parents came up to UD a lot to visit which is something that not a lot of my friends’ parents did.
HC: When you arrived on campus freshman year (compared to people you know from out of state) was it easier or harder for you to make friends?
JB: When I came to school freshman year I felt like I was very scared to meet new people so I really gravitated towards people I knew before coming to college. It definitely was harder to make friends because I was still hanging out with people I’ve worked with over the summers and their friends, but also people that were from my area, so I definitely didn’t make friends for the first month or so.
HC: What are some of your favorite places in Delaware that non-Delawareans might not know?
JB: I think in Delaware, I really love the state parks, they’re always so interesting. White Clay is right behind UD, if you haven’t been there you really should, it’s right behind North Campus. I think an interesting one is Cape Henlopen Park which is right where I’m from and it has a beach there. Usually people go for the beach, but there is this whole other side of Delaware history there. It was used as a World War II defense ground and observation towers. It’s super interesting to see. Don’t get me wrong the beaches are great but I feel like all of the state parks are really fun. We used to go there for field trips.
HC: How does being in Newark compare to being at home?
JB: Being in Newark is very different from being at home. At least in Newark there is something to do like every night. At home it’s more like ‘small town, driving around in your car.’ I feel like in Newark there is definitely more to do and my friends and I always have an idea of something to do. UD also hosts a lot of different activities. Whereas at home I feel like I’m in the same routine.
The college experience is different for everyone, and this is just one take on going to school in the same state where you’re from. There are definitely a variety of other factors that can influence where someone wants to go to college.