There are times when the unexpected can be delightful. Last Fall, when I began this crazy journey to find a college to transfer to, I never expected that I would end up in a little, run-down town in southern Michigan.
After I visited the Albion College in February, I had an inkling feeling that I would end up going there. Things had just aligned themselves so well while I was there. I had already made a couple friends, the horse stables are actually on the campus, and I'm close enough to home that I can return for events that I really can't imagine missing—specifically the homeschool Shakespearean play group that I enjoy watching. I'm also close enough for my family and friends to visit, but far enough away that I can fully experience the independence that I've been craving. Still, I felt obliged to wait until now to officially choose because I still hadn't heard anything from the top two colleges on my original list: Roger Williams University and Sarah Lawrence College.
The process of elimination began about a month ago. I knew as soon as I was accepted into Seattle University that I wouldn't be attending Saint Cloud State University, so they were the first college to hear the word "no." (Though they're still sending me stuff, so apparently they are in denial, or maybe just desperate.) I wrote in a previous post that Seattle hadn't felt right to me. I felt unwelcomed there, despite that I liked the city and the college. After a few weeks of debate, I finally chose to eliminate them as well. Then the eliminations continued with a college in Oregon that I had never finished applying to because they never responded to an e-mailed inquiry about SAT/ACT scores, and finally, I notified SUNY-Binghamton, another college I never finished my application for. That left me with only my top three: Albion, which I fell in love with when I visited there over President's Day, Sarah Lawrence, and Roger Williams. A week ago, I decided that I would give the latter two another week to contact me, then on Friday evening I would make my decision, or book plane tickets to the East Coast.
On Friday, my cell phone rang while I was at work. Seeing that the caller was Diane, my helpful counselor at Roger Williams, I answered the phone. Diane informed me that the admissions council had just passed her a letter attached to my essay saying that I hadn't sent in an adequate essay. Upon request, Diane clarified: I hadn't correctly answered the question. The essay was supposed to be about a favorite book that influenced my writing. I hadn't talked about a favorite book. Well, I hadn't talked about a favorite book because I don't have one. Like a lot of writers, there isn't one book that influenced my writing. I opened my essay saying that, then preceded to talk about a favorite author and how her books influenced me. Diane said that this apparently wasn't acceptable to the council and that they were willing to grant me time to write another one that better answered the question. I told Diane, thank you, but no. I had decided that I would not be attending Roger Williams University. I had no interest in attending a college that was so inflexible they were unwilling to accept an essay that they considered beautifully written but didn't answer the question perfectly.
When I got home that night, there was no mail from Sarah Lawrence, and so, I am attending Albion College come August.
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