College Visit in California

What do you think of when you hear the word “California”? For most, the first things that come to mind are beautiful beaches, warm weather, and a kick-back kind of lifestyle. For me though, when I hear “California” I think of my biggest lifetime goal – to end up studying at a college there. Over this past summer, I went on vacation with my mom to San Diego, California. It was an amazing trip filled with lots of mother-daughter bonding at all the biggest shopping malls, beaches, and fancy restaurants. More importantly though, the trip had turned out to be a life-changing experience, a true eye opener on reality, with the visits we made to two colleges: the Art Institute in San Diego and the University of San Diego.

For a very long time, the Art Institutes in San Diego and the University of San Diego have been schools I have been very interested in possibly attending in the future. The first school that my mom and I visited in California was the Art Institute. Driving up to the campus, I was excited and anxious to see what a college would look like from the inside as a prospective student. The view of San Diego from the school was astonishing from any angle and it was an attractive, clean-looking school. Once inside the Art Institute, my mom and I went into our scheduled meeting with an advisor. With the advisor we discussed the general overview of the school and also what the curriculum and school would be like.

While in the meeting, I began to sense how serious the subject matter of actually going to college was, reality had finally hit me for once in my life. I am growing up. I got such an eerie feeling while sitting in that small room with the advisor. It was almost a sense of a discomforting surprise. I had realized that I’d be going away to college a year from then. That meant no more living at home with that sense of security, that sense of always having my mom by my side.

We finished up the meeting with the advisor and took a tour of the school. The entire time throughout the rest of the meeting and the tour, I was aw-struck. Just walking around the school and seeing students sitting in the classes, made it all that more real. Every time I saw a student in the school, I thought to myself, “That could possibly be me in just a year.” It was just so surprising to me. Finally, my mom and I left the school but I realized then that I now had a completely different attitude about life than I had when I first arrived here.

From that first college visit to the Art Institute in San Diego, my outlook on life changed. I learned that no matter if a person is ready or not, life still moves on. One has to face the reality of it whether they want to or not. It’s not always a fair thing, but it’s life. In the next couple of months, my life is going to change drastically even though I don’t think I’m prepared for the change at all. I am going to have to decide what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, go off to college, and move out on my own for the first time. But I am going to learn how to face these challenges one by once since I must. Because regardless of anything, life goes on.