Two weeks ago, I took one of the most important trips I will ever take as a soon-to-be senior in high school…college visits. Most of us cringe at the thought of spending days with our parents at unknown places trying to make you decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. I was one of those people.
I am a fairly normal teenager from Indiana. I love to watch movies, ice skate, dance ballroom, and completely excited about going off to college. So when my parents started asking the inevitable questions of where you want to go; all I could think to say was that I was just ready to get out of here. This answer is what led us to South and North Carolina.
Our first stop was at Clemson University. It was almost a ten hour drive, and could not have gone by slower. The school was pretty nice, and we visited an amazing botanical garden over two-hundred acres in size just down the street from campus. It was filled with any type of beautiful scenery you could possibly imagine. My parents and I watched as a group of turtles were swimming frantically for food in the pond in front of us. I felt bad as the turtles’ food was being captured by the enormous orange fish able to gulp it up in one bite.
The next day we made our way to University of South Carolina in Columbia, and even though we additionally saw University of North Carolina, USC was definitely the highlight of the event. Although in the city, the campus was gated off by large brick walls and trees making you feel you are far from the city itself. Upon first impressions, I immediately fell in love with the people that lived there. Everyone we talked to was kind and extremely friendly even with the hustle and bustle of being in the city.
I instantaneously knew from the first step I took onto the Horseshoe in the center of campus that this was the school I wanted to attend. All the buildings were illuminated brightly by the sun peeking through the leaves. Large trees encompassed the campus keeping us refreshingly cool on a hot summer day. The grass even seemed to shimmer from moisture and health. Our tour with Melissa lasted two hours, and I did not want it to end. She guided us to the many small and large buildings where most undergraduate students had classes; each time stopping to add unique details that enhanced my newly felt love for this amazing school. With each step, I could picture myself on a bench or in the grass studying with friends, or scurrying off to class under the immense branches covering me from the hot Carolina weather.
The first time I saw USC I began to love it, but after learning the additional information that made this school one of the best, I found myself saddened that I was to leave it. I had finally found a college that suited me and my aspirations. Upon leaving, I could not wait until I could get home and write USC at the top of my list of colleges I wanted to go to. A couple weeks later, I am still clinging to that amazing day in South Carolina and eager to apply to USC. I was oblivious at the beginning of this trip, that I would finally find my true home and where I belonged, but now tremendously excited and hopeful to be given the chance to attend the college of my dreams.
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