Describe what your experience was like this week: Monday consisted of 2 school tours which I think was the most hectic day of all 3. In general, I felt like the planning was really thought out and I didn’t get a lot of free time which I think was for good reason. However, I also got a few hours of free time after we would get to the hotel around 5:00 or 6:00 each night after dinner which I thought was really generous because that gave me a few hours to hang out in a hotel with a bunch of my friends as well as bond with them.
What differences did you notice between the different schools you visited? There was a range of different sized campuses. There was some closer to the beach and others that sat on the outskirts of the city. There was one that focused more on hands on learning more than I felt the other schools did. As a whole, they mostly focused on STEM and would’ve enjoyed to see the dynamic of a college like an art or film school.
How has this experience changed/influenced your ideas around college? For example:Being away from home/parents By the third day I did feel very homesick but the other two days weren’t that bad. I guess you don’t get a lot of time on your own to really reflect on whether you miss your parents/home a lot because you’re always up and doing something between tours and being with friends. I’m usually not one to up and leave home comfortably, I get homesick very quickly but even I felt safe and comfortable on this trip.Driving long distances to get homeThe drive home wasn’t exciting. I’m really tall and my legs ache a lot when I sit for too long so I definitely was not thrilled to be on a bus for 7-8 hours but the long ride wasn’t a deal breaker for me not to go on this trip. I got to sit with all of my friends and bond with some people I didn’t know as well as I do now simply because I spent so long with them on the bus and in the hotel.Being immersed in a different city/cultureI liked the first night where we walked around the small town because it was so quaint. We were all looking for something to eat and I just enjoyed the town we were in because I felt like it was so calming, there wasn’t a lot of cars or people except for our class just going on a stroll through a new place.Being responsible for taking care of yourselfThis was the easiest part, we were always near a bathroom or food. I brought my own food so I had extra food leftover from day 3 and we were always eating on a college campus or buying dinner out (which was paid for). I’m a vegan and even I had an easy time getting food while we were out. I also never needed to use the bathroom on the bus because I always just went before the ride and I was fine.
What are you looking forward to the most in college? I think taking care of myself and being on my own because I love only relying on myself because I consider myself to be a very responsible person. I’m also excited for making a routine for myself and finding that balance between free time and work time. What are you most concerned about for college? I’m most concerned about where I’m going to go. I’m so open to any location but at the same time I’m concerned I’ll be too scared to move so far away from everything I know. Are you interested in Study Abroad? Ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to go to Europe and then when I was in 7th grade I decided I wanted to study abroad in the UK because I think I want that experience of shoving myself out of my comfort zone.
Did you hear about any clubs or organizations you would be interested in joining?I didn’t hear of any clubs that were especially intriguing but UCSB does offer about 500+ clubs to join so I’m pretty sure any school with a club program like UCSB would peak my interest if I spent 20 seconds digging through a list of all of the clubs.
What type of college (or trade school) are you interested in attending? I really want to attend a university.
Do you think you will stay in-state, or go to another state/country?I’m not sure yet. I would like to go to an out of state college then study abroad in some other country such as the UK.