To the People Who Judged Me for Staying in Our Home Town for School

I get it. For a long time I thought I had to get out of our town too. I wanted to move far away, where I didn’t know anyone from high school. I could make new friends, start a new chapter in my life, I was so excited. But as any high school senior and college student knows, college is so expensive it’s a bit ridiculous. Moving to another state didn’t seem like an option for me anymore.

I could blame my parents. They didn’t have money for my schooling, they hadn’t been saving money in a secret bank account for me since my birth. There was scholarships, sure, but I wasn’t that great of a student in high school, so my chances of winning scholarships with high amounts of money didn’t seem like an option either. So that left loans, a scary thought to me. I knew I’d have to take out loans for any school that I went too, but the loans would be so much smaller if I stayed in-state.

And so one day I got a letter from Boise State University, about ten minutes from my childhood home, and decided yep, that’s where I’m going to school. Honestly, it felt like a relief. I didn’t have to figure out another $7,000 for the dorms, the $2,000 for a meal plan I didn’t see myself using. And although some of the stress of money and college were not off my shoulders, I still wasn’t happy.

Graduation came and I heard of all the great schools my fellow classmates were going to. Everything from Stanford to Washington State University, only a day's drive away. As summer went by, friends would ask where I was going to school in the fall and when I replied I was staying right here in Boise, I could feel the judgement on their faces, could hear it in their voice when they said, “Oh cool!”

But I’m here to tell you, almost a full year later, that Boise State was the greatest choice I’ve ever made and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Although I’ve lived my entire life in this same city, it’s all different to me now. I’m finding new restaurants, met new people from all around the country, have taken full advantage of the things this great city of trees has to offer that I never once considered growing up. I joined a sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, that has become my new home. I’m learning so much in my classes, have even changed my major already and I’m excited.

So, to the people who judged me for staying in our home town for school, I have one thing to say: I hope you’re happy wherever you are, because I sure as hell am happy here.