The four years you spend in college are filled with some of the most life-changing moments you’ll ever experience (or at least … so far … I’m not “old” or even in the “real world” yet). College is filled with late-night cram sessions in which you won’t touch one textbook, but rather bare your soul to a friend and at the end of that moment you’ll wonder why you even said everything you just did — but it’ll make sense later on. College is stuffed full of heart-wrenching moments and mornings where you wonder whether or not you can even get out of bed and face the new day (you can). College is a mash-up of heartache from a multitude of possibilities, of ridiculous moments that other people would have to see to believe, of Netflix binges and thumbing through old papers that bring back a flood of memories you had long since buried.
I clearly have only attended one college, one university during these four years, so I cannot speak as a guru of all colleges, but CNU truly has brought me not the people I wanted to meet, but the people I needed to meet, for better or worse. Cliché or not, sappy senior moment or late-night ramblings, the structure of Christopher Newport University is extraordinarily unique — that much, I know. I have had professors who have pushed me far past the limits of my knowledge. I have had friends who stood by me in my darkest hour, even when they didn’t have to. Perhaps some CNU students have large groups of friends for partying each weekend, but for me, a very small group of close friends fulfills me and pushes me to be the best individual I can be.
You know, CNU was the only college I applied to (DO NOT FOLLOW MY METHODS, PEOPLE!) Let me clarify: I applied EXTREMELY early so I would know whether or not CNU would accept me; my plan allowed plenty of time to apply to other schools if the need arose. I knew this school was exactly where I wanted to go and where I needed to go. With my family already having one foot in Virginia, and my bursting to graduate from high school and beyond ready for the next phase of my life, I felt CNU was exactly what I needed! Call it fate, intuition or whatever you like, I came to CNU for a reason: to make an impact (which hopefully I have), to befriend some of the greatest people I have ever met (I know I have), and to gain a strong foundation both as a scholar and as an individual to enter the next phase of my life. In the end college is … well, you’ll just have to fill it in yourself ☺