Football games. Sorority/Fraternity houses. Tailgating. Huge class sizes (teachers don't know if you skip). So many people. So many networking opportunities. These are just a few of the joys of going to a large college.
Being from Atlanta, just about everyone I knew in high school wanted to go to either Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia. Applying to both universities, many students made the tough decision of which to attend by getting rejected from one (or sometimes both). If you were super smart--and didn't mind that your football team wasn't so hot-- chances are you wanted to go to Tech. If you weren't as interested in academics as you were in meeting tons of new people--and enjoyed a night out bar-hoping-- you were probably more interested in Georgia.
Of course, there are always a few exceptions. Some chose the comforts of rural Athens, GA to the hustle and bustle of downtown Atlanta. Others were interested in civil engineering, as opposed to agri-science. All of these reasons are completely acceptable. I was always told that choosing the right college for you depends on your personal preferences. I guess not everyone was sent that same memo, because when asked where I was planning to attend college, people were shocked that I hadn't chosen one of the two most popular choices among Georgia students.
"Why?!" people asked me time and time again. "Wouldn't you be better off at Georgia?" "If you're thinking of going into medicine, why not go pre-med at Tech?" Others suggested that I would be much better suited at their alma mater- Auburn, URI, Florida State, Ole Miss, Michigan, LSU, Boston College, UConn, etc. No one understood why I would possibly want to go to a small school that they had never heard of. They couldn't fathom why I would want to go to a college that was only fractionally larger than my high school. And even then, why would I look out of state?
The benefits of going to a small college are numerous, and I have only just realized all that they have to offer. At first, the thought of getting the chance to travel halfway across the world on my JBIP, and being able to play on the university's tennis team won my vote. But recently, after the unexpected death of a family member, I realized that the joys of a small school are more then an international program and being able to walk across the entire campus in approximately seven minutes.
Losing a family member is hard enough as it is, and being away from home when it happens doesn't make the situation any better. But luckily, being a Queens student has its perks. When you know almost everyone on campus, you are able to build a certain level of trust with your professors and other faculty/staff members. This level of trust would be nearly impossible to obtain at a larger, unconnected university.
I left school right before the week of exams. Usually, this would lead to major problems, but after talking to Dean Downey and the Director of Academic Advising,Michelle Kelly, they reassured me that they would take care of my exams and notify my teachers of why I was unable to attend my exams. They explained to me exactly what was going to happen with my grades, and how I needed to handle things when I got back to campus for the spring semester.
I had to fly to Rhode Island for the funeral, and by the time my connecting flight landed in Atlanta, I had already received a call from Dean Downey reassuring me that he was taking care of all of my things on campus and that I needn't worry about my exams while I was gone. Now, I'm sure that professors at other universities would understand if you had to postpone your exams, but I seriously doubt that you'd get a phone call from the Dean telling you that he would personally take care of your academic affairs.
I know that this may not seem like a lot to most high school students, but this truly made me realize that I had made the right decision by choosing Queens. Sure, schools will tell you that at their university "You have a name; you're not just another number," but very few really follow it to this extent.
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