As this year comes to the end, the senior class of 2018 has to get ready to leave for college. The process to know which schools to apply to was extremely exhausting, now choosing which one to attend is another thing. Due to some students getting rejection letters, their choices automatically narrowed down and now have a smaller list than expected. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I did not get any rejection letter from the eight schools I applied to.

My top universities were CSU Monterey Bay, half an hour away, and UC Irvine, six hours away. One which is too close, and one is too far away.

Based on my options, I questioned why go to Irvine. College students are required to take general classes one way or another, so why spend more money at Irvine when they are cheaper here at CSUMB? Although it is far, I am considering it because it is cheaper and I got a scholarship and I wouldn’t be paying a lot. Although it would be cheaper to attend a community college and then transfer to a 4-year, I want to get a break from living at home and be able to experience new things out of my comfort zone by living in the dorms at CSUMB. In a school with 500+ seniors, most have different options and locations where they want to attend.

Soccer star Miguel Lazcano applied to a private University in Ohio. “I was leaning towards it because they were offering me a soccer scholarship, but they didn’t have my major.”  Ohio is almost across the country, and that also impacted his choice. “It too far for soccer. It’s too far in general. I would miss my family too much.” As his final choice, he chose to study at the UC Davis and try out for the Aggies soccer team.. Compared to many, he is one that will stay “close” to home.

Rosalba Orozco decided to travel across the country. On a wrestling scholarship, she will attend Midland University in Nebraska. The distance was partially a key to making her decision. “I have travelled before so I won’t be as home sick.” She didn’t see this a bad thing, “I get the opportunity to be able to live in a different state other than California.”

Liliana Constantino was debating between Davis and Berkeley. “Davis was offering good financial aid, but then I got the Fiat Lux Scholarship and it was paying for the rest of what my financial aid was not. That was what made me choose Berkeley.” The distance did not impact her choice of school. “Berkeley is not far. It is good distance for me to go home in case of an emergency.”

Swimmer Marisol Diaz, instead of going east, will travel west to Hawaii. “I wanted to travel because they have a great marine biology program. It is far from home but I wanted to go out and experience new things instead of going to a close university where life would probably be the same.”  

Because no school is the same, students struggle with where to go and what to do. While many students might prefer staying close to home, there are a few deciding to venture far away. Whether it’s staying in the county, state, or country, we have to take more responsibility of our actions and ourselves. No matter how far away we go for college, we know there will always be a place to come home to.

By Cristina Alcantar