College decisions is one of the most stressful times in an adolescent's life. Questions like “will I get in” or “can I see myself spending four more years of my life here?” are just a few of the many questions that will arise during this journey. However, figuring out what your future will look like is one of the most rewarding and stress-relieving things out there. Personally, all the normal questions ran through my head until I was able to find THE college that will benefit me the most and help me grow into a successful functioning adult. After visiting a few colleges here and there I happened to stumble upon the University of South Florida and all the amazing things it has to offer. 

So starting from the beginning of my journey… I had no clue which college I wanted to get into. Yeah there are the most popular ones like University of Florida and Florida State University, but I wasn’t a straight A student with a plethora of different things to put on my resume. I did play a couple sports but I wasn’t too involved with the school when it comes to clubs and other activities. Getting into those very popular schools is very difficult because of their very demanding requests from a person and what they did in their high school. After exploring the easier options like University of North Florida and Florida Atlantic University, I still didn’t feel like I found “the one”. I got to thinking about where my friends that graduated last year went and I realized that University of South Florida could very well be an option that was worth checking out. 

Obviously I investigated what USF was all about and some things really stood out to me. I think that it’s essential that I touch on the fact that I want to become a neonatal nurse. Since I already have my future career choice picked out, seeing that they had several hospitals, including Shriners Children Hospital, caught my attention almost immediately. Not only is that a future job opportunity, but it’s also a good place to volunteer and get experience. After contacting my good friend about how he liked USF so far and hearing nothing but phenomenal things about it, I realized that this is somewhere I would greatly like to tour. When I tried to schedule a day to tour, everything was booked and there wasn’t any space close to the current time that would be available. Even though there was no space available, my parents and I hopped into the car and drove all the way to Tampa anyways in hopes that there would magically be a spot. On the drive up there it began to look very dark and cloudy in the sky which didn’t look to good. Dark clouds meant rain, and rain doesn’t go well with exploring an outdoor campus. Luckily for us, we didn’t waste a trip to Tampa because I was able to get a spot and it didn’t begin raining quite yet! After the basic speeches about what USF has to offer, it was finally time to go out and explore the campus, however, there was just one problem.

The rain began to pour down so we weren't allowed to do a complete tour but from what I did see the campus was just as beautiful as the pictures, rain or shine. When the rain did finally calm down, we went out in groups to go see the dorms. There were a few rooms set up for viewing purposes and it made me even more excited to go off to college. Walking around the campus, you get to see so many trees that are strategically placed to create a flow. I also got to see the iconic bull and fountain on the way back to where the tour all began. As the rain cleared up leaving a beautiful yellow ombre in the sky, it furthered my feelings of knowing this school being a perfect fit.

On the drive back home I reflected on all the new information I received and what I got to experience. After all of that, I found my college that I greatly wanted to go to. A month or so later I was admitted for the Summer 2020 term and I’ve never been more excited to join the USF stampede.