When I tell people where I’m from, the reaction is always pretty similar. In fact, ask any student that is from a state not in the Midwest which question they dread most and it is “why did you come to Iowa”. (I promise it’s even better when you and your roommate are both from a coast so you both have to listen to each other’s explanation about 100 times a day.) To be honest I’ve gotten used to the question and have a pretty good scripted answer or two, but a few weeks ago I got asked a question that really stumped me. While in an interview for a job here on campus I got asked “why stay?”. In my head it seems pretty self-explanatory why I stayed, but then I realized that they couldn’t see in my head, nor could they see the crazy jumps I make from one thought to another so somehow I was going to have to put my shambles into words. Honestly my answer in the interview was a complete mess I think I said something about the people I’ve met, and sure that’s true but now that I am spending more time thinking about it, I realize I have even better reasons for why I stayed. I stayed here because it never crossed my mind that I belonged anywhere else, because I know I didn’t. I stayed because I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I just wanted to be here… like all the time.
It’s funny, when I decided to switch my major, my parents wanted me to make sure that I was making the right decision. And again in my head it made complete sense, but for some reason I couldn’t quite explain it to them and then one day I realized something. Before ever coming to college I had originally gotten admitted to another nursing program before I got admitted to Iowa’s and yet I still committed to Iowa without hesitation. I committed on the off-chance I was never going to be able to graduate with a nursing degree, because I wanted Iowa that bad. Looking back I didn’t pick Iowa for nursing, I picked Iowa because I didn’t want to go to any other school, and well I stayed because I still don’t want to be at any other school. I wake up every morning beyond happy with the decision I made for school. I come to school knowing that I’ve made a home and a family here. I stay here because I have met people I wouldn’t have met anywhere else, I have found a version of myself I never would’ve found anywhere else, I have found a happiness I never would’ve found anywhere else.
So why stay? I stay because not once, not even when I am at home with strep throat just wanting my parents and my dog, have I ever considered not being here.
Until Next Time
Go Hawks!