When I was getting ready to apply for colleges, I vowed to myself that there was no way I would go to school in state. I went on a Northwest tour of colleges with my mom over fall break of my senior year in high school. Together we visited the University of Oregon, Portland University, Seattle University, Vancouver, University of Washington and Western Washington University. I fell in love with the idea of going to school somewhere new and experiencing a new environment and essentially starting over where I wouldn’t know anyone.
My mom and I in Vancouver during my Northwest college tour!I got accepted to the schools that I applied to but when it came down to it, even the scholarships I was offered from the out-of-state schools would force me into a deep hole of debt that would be impossible to climb out of. Next, I vowed that I would go to an in-state school but that it wouldn’t be ASU. I didn’t want to go to a school that was ten minutes from my house.
When push came to shove, ASU offers one of the best journalism schools in the country and it seemed irresponsible for me to throw that away because of my prejudices against going to a school so close to home.
ASU turned out to be extremely advantageous to me and I am so happy I chose the right school. It has presented me with so many amazing opportunities and experiences and I am able to save money and not be so far in debt as I would have been if I forced myself out-of -state.
I will always hold a little bit of regret for not going out-of-state for school but I made a promise to myself to make up for this by vowing to study abroad in college and visit my best friends at their out-of-state schools. Both of these items are now a part of my bucket list.
Today, I finally saved up enough money to buy my plane ticket to visit my best friend Alexa Pereda in Washington D.C. at Georgetown University for fall break. I’ve never been to the east coast and I’m so excited to go visit her, do touristy things and meet all of her amazing friends. She is a huge inspiration and role model to me. Not only is she the first generation in her family to attend college, she got a great scholarship that will allow her to afford the expenses of an out-of- state elite college. I am so proud of everything she does and I can’t wait to see her and experience all of the amazing things she is doing there.
The beautiful Alexa Pereda in D.C.Buying a plane ticket to D.C. is officially checked off the bucket list! It's a hefty price for a plane ticket, but if you want to get out and experience the world, make a budget for yourself and put away money each week towards what you want to do.
Thanks for reading week three of my bucket list challenge, next week I will be exploring polyphasic sleep!
