Our 3-day, 2-night college road trip was actually pretty enjoyable. We saw Chapman University, UC Santa Barbara, UC Merced, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I really liked being with my grade level at a reasonably independent and overnight level. It was far more intimate and it felt like a good experience for everyone. The bus rides were long, the tours short, and the energy of us teens were filled to the brim. It was a bit messy and rushed in terms of the schedule but I wished it was for a lot longer. Though that might be more expensive and time-consuming for our school’s “budget” and projects.
Each college had a lot of differences and similarities and I found that three out of the four were very intriguing. They all had a huge variety and freedom in extracurriculars like clubs and recreational activities. Some had a very strict and high expectations for acceptances in their colleges while others were more lax. They all had really nice dorms, dining areas, libraries, and opportunities. Most included Study Abroad Programs and I found the locations to be nice. I only wish that some of the schools were combined, the benefits would have been amazing and it would be so much easier to choose!
After participating in the tours, I feel more anxious to go to college, though not in an entirely bad way. I found the independence and the many options to be exciting and I can’t wait to go but I feel more indecisive in what school to go to, what I should do now to confirm my place in those schools, what I should learn, and so much more. I really want to learn more about this world but I don’t want to be alone. I hope I can be able to get used to being alone and learn how to actually take care of myself by the time we all graduate... It’s going to be tough. Though I’m looking forward to learn in a more specialized way, with my own interests and hopefully new opportunities, in college. I’m also excited to be reasonably independent and do my own things in a place with people like me in a new environment. I feel like it would be very intense but I hope I can at least enjoy my time in college.
I do want to try all these new things that colleges probably provide, I feel like new adult responsibilities could be an issue. With independence, I would need to learn and do all these things by myself. I’m also very worried about the entire college process. To be more specific, I am scared about the application, the paperwork, the decisions, etc. It all seems complicated and I don’t know how or where to start. When I heard about the Study Abroad programs in most of the colleges, I got interested in participating. I would love to travel and learn in a completely new location, especially with the chance of me being paid to go! It seems like an amazing experience to have, to go, learn, and change with new people, places, and things. Travelling does a lot for a person and I hope that I can become a better person with more experience.
The tours never really mentioned a lot of clubs and we, as visitors, didn’t really ask because of time constraints. Though I found that the dance studios, recreational centers, and the possible chance of making our own clubs to be a pretty good feat. I would love to see the many different types of clubs that people made in the colleges we visited, such as the Harry Potter Quidditch team. I found the sororities and the fraternities to be a bit confusing, I’m not sure what purpose they serve and why they’re so apparent in college life. It seems strange and I hope to learn about them sometime.
I found all of the schools to be very interesting. I do like all of them but UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and UC Merced stood out more as possible choices. They all had things about them that were really nice. They were in really nice locations and provided a lot of extra opportunities and options that are pretty beneficial if I were to go. I liked the atmospheres they had and they seem really cool, regardless of the fact that they’re schools. Though, I am open to a lot of options. I feel like I would like to stay in-state, out of convenience. College tuition out of state is a lot more expensive than in-state. I would also love to just be in a more familiar location as well as be closer to my family.