From San Juan, PR to Dayton, OH

Born and raised in the beautiful island of San Juan, PR for 17 years, the exciting and difficult decision of 12th grade, besides: "which prom dress am I getting", came along. All of my friends knew what majors they wanted to pursue in college: Pre-Med, Pre-Law, architecture, one even wanted to be an astronaut, and Natalia was part of that big group of students all over the world that have no idea what they wanted to be. You're 17 years and it's a pretty big decision, you know like what do you want to do the rest of your life, kind of stuff. My parents very supportive and loving, as always told me the reality of probably having to stay in Puerto Rico for college since it was way cheaper. I was okay with that, however decided I had nothing to lose by applying in some of the colleges in the United States, I thought to myself: "What's the worst that can happen? Not being able to attend one of those universities? That's pretty much the scenario I have now". I had nothing to lose, therefore I took upon myself the challenge of applying to 13 universities, while being in the soccer team, senior class representative, some AP credits, and the victim of many all nighters. The wonderful time of common apps, multiple 500-2,000 word essays, and frustration passed by, and I found myself in my gray sofa in the living room, holding 4 envelopes that contained the responses of some of the universities I applied to. It was an I wanted to scream-laugh-hide-dance kind of feeling, and then I opened the first one. I remember: "The University of Dayton-ACCEPTED" and "offers you the presidential scholar merit scholarship" after my relief, and happy dance I kept on reading the letter, and WHOA that was a pretty good scholarship. I ran upstairs, to show it to my parents, and same reaction WHOA. Some of the other universities accepted me, others rejected me, however at the end it came down to University of Dayton or University of Puerto Rico. Both had many pros and cons, however with the help of my godfather and best parents, I actually had the opportunity to attend this university out of my island, without my family, and in this new place I had never even thought about except for that last week. When it came down to the last day where I had to really decide, I thought to myself "día a día" which means "day by day". I knew I was going to get out of my comfort zone, my mom wasn't going to cook for me anymore, all of my best friends were going to the University of Puerto Rico, I wouldn't have a car, wouldn't be able to get a hug from my mom when everything was going downhill, get in trouble and know that my parents would be there to save me, and I would go all alone to this new place. I made my decision, and I said "Mom, I want to attend the University of Dayton, and I will be the best I can be by taking little steps forward towards my goals- día a día." Boy am I glad to make that decision, writing you from the Library now, 3 years later, with a collection of stories, so many great and wonderful people in my life, a new best friend, and getting closer to reaching my goals- día a día.

#college #home #moving #ohio #puertorico #student #experiences