Hi everyone!

For those of you who have been with me since my first post, you know I’ve written about all aspects of my college life from Halloween in Iowa City, events I’ve participated in, books I’ve read, and even social media apps I swear by. It’s been such a joy to share my college experience with everyone since deciding the University of Iowa was my forever home, but as I was scrolling through some of my old posts the other day, I realized that I never told you guys how I actually ended up here. As someone who came from New York to Iowa, my story bends the typical Hawkeye origin tale, not only because of how I ended up here, but also what I ended up learning in the process.

At some point throughout my high school career, I made the decision that I wanted to go to college to be a nursing major. With that idea in mind, I spent the first half of my junior year applying to nursing colleges from Vermont to Oregon (much to my mom’s dismay!). Of the nursing colleges I applied to, one happened to be here in Iowa because, if you didn’t know, the University of Iowa has one of the best nursing programs in the country. I’d like to say it was me who discovered this fact, but it was actually my dad (an Iowa alum) who nudged me toward applying here.

Almost immediately after I hit the send button on my last nursing application, Covid-19 trampled through the country, and I was taken out of school. Suddenly, I was left at home with nothing to do, no one to talk to, and for once, no college applications to worry about. For the first time in my life, I was forced to sit and, well, do nothing.

As you can imagine, that didn’t last very long.

Gradually, I resorted back to my love for reading and writing; something that I adored in middle school but forgot about when I got to high school. I remember I was the type of kid that would read by herself during lunch, write bad short stories on my phone, and practically beg my mom to let me write fanfiction on Wattpad (I know, embarrassing). I fell right back into my love for literature and started writing novels (still bad ones, but at least I was finishing them) and reading books that were collecting dust on my bookshelf for years. It was the most fun I’d ever had, and to this day, I still miss being able to wake up and write without a care in the world.

As I spent months typing away, I also received a handful of acceptance letters, one of them being from the University of Iowa as a nursing interest, but not a direct admin. It was a major accomplishment to still be accepted and all the college acceptances secured that I’d be going somewhere, but as they kept rolling in, I never found myself truly excited about them. I feigned a smile, hugged my family, and then went right back to my writing. I realize now that I was secretly dreading the idea of giving up my newfound freedom to go back into a rigorous academic space.  At the time though, I wasn’t ready to admit that nursing might be a major I couldn’t see myself in anymore.

As time continued and a decision loomed over me, I knew I needed to make a choice: do what I set out to do and become a nursing major, or start at square one and be an English and creative writing major. I remember that idea scared me so bad that I continuously shoved it down and hoped it would go away. And I succeeded in that… until I finally toured the University of Iowa.

My tour happened to be on one of the snowiest and coldest days of the winter semester. I remember that my eyelashes had icicles on them from how fast things were freezing. On the day of my tour, my dad and I were the only two people to show up because even a snowstorm couldn’t stop the fact that we had a flight to catch the next day and no time to reschedule.

I mentioned to my tour guide that I was looking into nursing, but for the entirety of the tour, I distinctly remember tuning in to anything she mentioned regarding the English community. I’d done my research beforehand and knew that the University of Iowa had one of the best creative writing programs in the country, and I couldn’t help but tune back into the tour any time she mentioned it. I think that realization was the defining moment for me.

Because by the time the tour ended, I realized I didn’t care about the nursing program and the things I once liked about it, all I could pay attention to was what I thought I’d be missing. And I knew, surrounded by the snow, the campus, and the city, that I couldn’t let this opportunity slip by.

Immediately after the tour, I sat down with my dad and told him I wanted to commit to Iowa as an English and creative writing major. I was lucky to have his and my mom’s support, so I flew home, talked to my advisor, and I officially switched my major. There were a few moments of hesitation, yes, but there was also so much relief. I was letting go of one dream to dive into another. That’s no easy feat, but one that I knew was worth it, even if I didn’t know where it would take me.

A couple weeks after I switched my major, I received a call from the nursing college at the university where I was told I had moved up the waitlist and had been directly admitted into the college, something that very few first-years are accepted into upon arrival. Confused, I told them I switched my major and there was a moment on the phone where the woman gave me a second chance to decide if I was truly turning down my spot in the nursing college. Seated on the steps of my childhood home and staring at the snow-covered hills that reminded me of the campus I toured only a few weeks ago, there was no hesitation when I declined a second time.

And there has been no hesitation since.

Now that I’ve been at the University of Iowa for nearly two years, I can honestly say that I made two of the most important and best decisions of my life back-to-back: changing my major and coming to Iowa to pursue it. I have no regrets and I’ve enjoyed every second of my academics, my literary community, and all the free time I have to write creatively. I was able to make my newfound freedom and my long-time passion into a career, and for that, I’m grateful.

For incoming freshmen, I want you to really consider your passions and know that they, and you, are subject to change. It is a brave thing to go for the life you want, and I promise, if you want something bad enough, it will happen for you. Choose to take dreams and make them into reality.

I hope you guys enjoy my story and I wish you all the best of luck on your college journey. Go Hawks and see you guys soon!