After a long four and a half hour drive and a week of college visits, I stepped foot on the campus of the University of Missouri. It was the last college tour I would go on and would decide my future. 

I started my college journey in February of my sophomore year with a tour at the University of Texas in Austin. It was amazing. I thought I would end up there; but after a few more tours, I realized it wasn’t meant to be. I preferred a campus with a smaller feel in a college town. I ended up touring nine other colleges throughout my junior year, ending my journey with the University of Missouri – Mizzou. 

I already knew Mizzou would be good for me and my career after visiting a college fair at a national journalism convention my sophomore year in Missouri. I intend to go into journalism and the journalism major there is amazing. I talked with a group of students, got some flyers and realized this would be a really good school for me. I just didn’t realize how good of a fit it was for me. 

When people say you’ll feel when a college is right for you, they mean it. When talking to the tour guides and some of the admissions people there, I felt like I belonged at Mizzou. The campus was so nice, the journalism program was amazing, I could see myself walking to my classes there everyday. That’s when I knew where I wanted to go. 

I ended up applying to Louisiana State University, University of Arkansas, University of North Texas and Mizzou. Of course, my ultimate goal was to get accepted into Mizzou.

I had a college coach help me with my common application and my essay to make sure it was the best it could be. I triple checked my application before I finally pressed submit on Aug. 3. 

I anxiously awaited a response from Mizzou on my acceptance. I checked my portal everyday to see if something had changed. One morning, I opened my portal to a burst of yellow and black confetti and the words “Congratulations on your acceptance” in big letters. 

I burst into tears and ran downstairs to tell my parents. We were all crying and screaming. It was a feeling like no other.