Galesburg Reporter

First-year student Dawsyn Wilson provides a first-hand account of her decision-making process. 

People will ask you why you chose the school you did, and sometimes your words will fall short. There is no one way to pick a college. It depends on what you want and who you are. As a kid from Oregon, I never imagined I would wind up in the Midwest, let alone Illinois. I moved nearly 2,000 miles from home with two duffel bags and a suitcase, and I have never looked back. Sometimes the least likely choice becomes the best choice you will ever make.DAWSYN WILSON: A frequent contributor to the Monmouth College news site, the first-year student from Portland, Oregon, decided to become a Scot despite its distance from home.My college decision journey was full of charts and lists of pros and cons. Information pulled from several websites was cross-stitched into Word documents where I could look at everything in one spot, color-coded and listed from best to worst. As I set forth to decide what college would make the final cut, I needed to be sure I chose the school that would benefit me the most at a reasonable cost.I didn’t know where I was going until the middle of class on a random school day. There wasn’t a big ceremonial moment with swelling tears in my eyes with a big gasp, but it was a moment where every piece of the puzzle came together and calmed a raging storm of confusion. I had my college research sitting across from me. My eyes bounced from one college to the next until I just stopped looking. They trained at one college, and everything fell into place. I looked up from my computer screen and decided exactly where I wanted to go. At the end of my college decision journey, it was a distinct feeling of calmness. There wasn’t a shred of anxiety floating in my body as I looked away from my computer.It was 2,000 miles away from home, 2,000 miles away from expectations and history that held me back. Monmouth College became my salvation, an escape from a stagnant existence. I would be stuck in the same place if I didn’t try to move on to something bigger. Here, I am a new face, just another student among the rest, a blank slate for others to fill in the gaps. I am free to be who I want to be. Every day, every new opportunity at Monmouth, proves I was right.

“Here, I am a new face, just another student among the rest, a blank slate for others to fill in the gaps. I am free to be who I want to be. Every day, every new opportunity at Monmouth, proves I was right.” – Dawsyn Wilson

Monmouth may be small, and you may have to venture further out of its limits to find something, but it is still 10 times better than being stuck in a place where I will never grow into the person I want to become. Professors know me by name. My professors take the time to know and understand their students. At Monmouth, you are more than a number; you are more than a nameless face in a sea of students in a lecture hall. You won’t see that at a big state school. People you talked to once will always smile and wave at you. Big schools don’t offer the same experience.

For all prospective college students, deciding on a college can be difficult. Many factors go into the colleges you apply to, such as location, departments and student resource programs. There are even more criteria to consider once those acceptances land in your mailbox. There are lists of pros and cons for each college you consider before your final decision. People will tell you to pick something closest to home or a college that fast-tracks you into the highest-paying company, or other factors individuals say matter during your decision-making.

“What college will help maintain your well-being and fit your personality and what you want in life? … The college you choose should fit what you want, not what others say is important.” – Dawsyn Wilson

You should consider these factors when choosing a college, but what about what you need as a person? What college will help maintain your well-being and fit your personality and what you want in life? These factors matter as much as the academic and career motivations that go with a college education. College is supposed to be a fun experience while being educational. The college you choose should fit what you want, not what others say is important.

Original source can be found here.