In my business classes we often talk about investments and the associated risk and reward that comes with them. Of course, the higher the risk of investmentthe higher the reward. Likewise, the lower the risk the smaller the reward. Until about a week ago, I never really considered coming to Queens an investment. Sure, I knew I had spent time here and spent lots of money to do so, but never really applied the risk and reward idea to my education over the last four years. After having had a conversation with our director of admissions, that all changed.
See, our quick conversation happened after I had given a tour and he was asking about the scholarships I had received. At first he started off with the idea of being a Presidential Scholar but quickly corrected himself and for sure thought I had been a Trustee Scholar. After jogging his memory, it was to his surprise that I was neither and still managed to make this work. Let's be real folks, Queens is NOT a cheap education despite the above average financial assistance the school provides. I, like many of the prospective students was interviewed and qualified for a variety of scholarships outside of the basic financial assistance I was set to receive. I knew that my chance to go to Queens relied on those scholarship interviews and knew that it was all or nothing.
Well, all or nothing it was. Outside of the athletic scholarship and financial package the school would provide, I did NOT receive any of the large scale prestigious scholarships that I had interviewed for. I had a decision to make. Make four years at Queens which seemed financially unrealistic work or settle for one of the MUCH cheaper state schools that was almost 100% paid for. With a little twist of fate and the blessing of my parents who knew what this meant to me, I signed with Queens. The rest as they say is history.
Now back to my point about risk and reward. This, my friends, had become a very high risk investment. Four years that could make or break my future. Luckily, as things would turn out, that investment paid HUGE dividends for my future. However, it's important to make a distinction about the word investment. Yes, spending tuition money for four years at a top liberal arts school is certainly an investment, but as a student I had to make a choice whether I would be another statistic or invest in myself and invest myself into this university. This, is where I feel the turning point in my future and time at Queens took place. I knew I wanted to be the best I could be but also be the student Queens wanted me to be. Thinking outside the box, solving problems, serving my community and seeing the world is only the start of a long list of things that came out of my investment. Queens offers more than a chance to walk across the stage, but a chance to make the most out of the investment in your future.
Look past the tuition, the four years, the ups and downs and look at what it is you want to accomplish. Taking a cheaper, closer to home, better safe than sorry route after high school would have been nice...But it wouldn't have been this. It wouldn't have made me what I am today and wouldn't have paid the rewards that Queens has given me. I could have ducked out and let go of this dream after losing out on some serious money, but I went into my college experience with both feet first and never looked back. I took complete advantage of what this university has to offer and made the most with what I had to work with. Looking back I wonder if I could ever see my life and the last four years any other way. At the end of the day, I took a chance and a big risk that paid off in very very big ways.
