Trying to find a good college is one of those things you have to take into consideration. Looking into one just won’t cut it for most people. I thought that I had found my number 1 college back at the beginning of 7th grade, but as I wanted to pursue something else, my college options soon changed with it.

At first in seventh grade, I believed I wanted to be on Broadway, and that was all I wanted to do. I was solely convinced that, by the end of my senior year, I would still have that belief and I even wanted to go to AMDA (The American Musical and Dramatic Academy) in NYC. From 6th grade forward, I got into musical theater and just wanted to act for the rest of my life. I still have that love for acting and it would be nice if I could do some theatre acting in the future, but it isn’t my number one choice.

While the college-search process was a bumpy ride, figuring out my career path wasn’t as big of an issue. Upon entering ninth grade, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be some form of artist, and I stuck with animation. By the end of my junior year, I decided that I will be pursuing Sequential Art (comic studies). But with college majors come college minors. Figuring out my minors was a lot easier. I still want to act, so I’ll be studying the performing arts. There are still a plethora of options within this one, but I want to study Truth in Acting: Stage and Screen. I also want to write after I graduate high school, so I chose to get my second minor in Convergent Journalism.

The long college-search process finally came to an end in April 2022.

In the beginning of 2020, I heard about Full Sail University, and it became my #1 choice for a strong 2 years. I was also interested in Ringling University. Both schools are in Florida, so last summer, my father and I flew down for campus tours. I only had those two options ready for me and I was convinced that I would be attending Full Sail in September 2023.

In April of my junior year, my BOCES class was hosting virtual college tours/questions. I saw that SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) was on there. I remember hearing good things about SCAD, so I decided to go on and listen. I liked what they had to offer, so right after Easter, my father and I flew down to Savannah for a tour. That is when I truly felt like I found out where I wanted to go. After my tour, I was able to submit an early application. It was my first college application – a very big deal! While there, we learned from an administrator that they had two early college programs in the summer. 

Rising Star: Students stay on campus for five weeks and attend two classes a day, each lasting 2.5 hours. The program began on June 20th and ended on July 21st. Students are treated as actual college students, despite the program being available only to students entering their senior year in high school. 

Summer Seminars: Students stay on campus for a week and attend 2 classes, each lasting 2.5 hours. Since this program was available for all students entering 9th-12th grade, this program had more supervision. Students weren’t allowed to leave campus and are supervised by PCAs.

My father and I agreed to try the Rising Star Program. I had to send in another application and had to wait until May or June to find out if I was accepted. One morning before school in the middle of May, I received an inspiring email – I got accepted into the Rising Star Program! For the first half of my summer, I would be in Georgia attending college classes and residing in a college dorm. After my acceptance, I was given a SCAD email that would get me into everything I needed: grades, classes, etc. I needed to submit a roommate application, and ID photo and register for my 2 classes. The 2 classes I chose were PERF 199: Act for Camera: Fundamentals at 8 am. My second class was DSGN 100: Dsgn I: Elements/Organization at 2 pm.

This would be a big event for my whole family. I’ve never been away from home for a long period of time, and even if I was, it was a family vacation. This would be good for us so I can get a feel for college life and being responsible for myself, and my family could get used to me not being home.

At the beginning of June, I got my roommate and suitemates for my stay, and then was the big and long packing process. I was lucky enough to split the packing into two. I would be coming back home for prom and leaving the next day, so most of my packing was during my second trip down. 

I absolutely loved my stay on campus for the 5 weeks. It was nice being able to make new friends around the world and have new experiences and opportunities I normally wouldn’t be able to have. I was able to maintain a B in my Design Class, and an A in my acting class, so my overall GPA was 3.5. During the 4th week of Rising Star, I got a very exciting email – my official acceptance letter for the 2023 SCAD school year! I was euphoric, and my family was twice as thrilled. 

The program soon came to an end. It was definitely a bittersweet moment. I was glad I could be home with my family and friends for the rest of the summer, but it was hard to say goodbye to everyone I met.  I had to say goodbye to people from all over the world: Texas, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Columbia, and even Switzerland. I am able to stay in touch with them through apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Discord. I hope next year at SCAD to see some familiar faces in my classes, as some of my friends have already been accepted too. 

I received my official SCAD acceptance letter when I arrived home. I am very glad I was lucky enough to have this experience. Besides the school, Savannah was absolutely gorgeous. There were a lot of fun things to do with great experiences. Everybody there was extremely friendly and I cannot wait to go back!

I already miss inserting my ID card in my chip reader on my red door, tucked in the back of the dorm building with the other girls, all the way down in Savannah. I hope the freshmen that move into that dorm make as many memories as I did just a few months ago.