Why I chose UF over every other Florida university

“GATOR NATION!” “GO GATORS!” “GO ORANGE AND BLUE!” Before February 2014, I would have never said these words.

I was that kid in high school who vowed never to step foot into UF or be a part of the “Gator Nation”.

To me, the school was a destination for all the jocks, athletes and so-called ‘popular kids’ at my high school in Naples, FL, and I figured I wouldn’t fit in. Little did I know that 3 years later, I would be walking into my freshman semester at UF, as happy as I could ever be.

I was not the popular kid in high school, or the athletic kid or the nerdy kid. I was the in-between who had a few select friends and drifted by with straight A’s and never got into any trouble. My good grades led me to believe I was destined for a college career at Yale (blame it on Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls). I probably would have accomplished that goal, if it wasn’t for the fact that I couldn’t go to college after high school.

I won’t get into the details of why, but in short, immigration wouldn’t let me. Here I was, graduating high school in 2011, not knowing what I’m going to do.

Some of my friends went to the University of Central Florida, some went to the community college in my hometown and some moved out of state. So I started bouncing ideas around in my head for what I wanted to do when I finally would be able to experience college life.

Me visiting UCF

First it was Full Sail University. If you don’t know about Full Sail – it’s really okay. Next up was University of Miami. Who wouldn’t want to study on the beach? I applied, I got in, looked at the price tag of a private institution and decided it was better not to. Next it was UCF. After visiting my friends in Orlando and spending two weeks with them in their 8×6 dorm, I fell in love with UCF and the big Orlando city environment.

Fast forward two years later and I couldn’t stand the thought of living in crowded and crazy Orlando. I also considered the idea of going to Florida Gulf Coast University which was right down the road from my house (Dunk City anyone?). But after realizing that I would be entirely too close to my parents, I decided it’s best to throw that idea out.

I visited Chicago because I literally had nothing better to do

Come end of 2013, I was finally seriously applying to colleges. What was my dream college I was anxiously awaiting an admissions letter from — you guessed it — Florida State University.

As someone who was always against the Gators, you can see why I wanted to go to the school’s number one rival. I loved the idea of being far away from home, living in Tallahassee and being a Nole.

So here I am, waiting on all my letters of admission. First it was UM’s, then FGCU’s, UCF’s and finally FSU’s. They sent this beautiful folder-like laminated document, and on the inside was the admissions letter. This was the fanciest letter of admissions from any of the schools. I got excited and showed my mom, who thought this was so fancy she hung it up (no joke).

However, I still hadn’t heard from UF. I applied because I wanted to see if I would get in. Up to this point FSU was life, but I still did more research on UF. Subconsciously something was telling me to.

I looked up their Journalism and Communications college (little did I know it was the best one in the state) and thought it was pretty neat. On Valentine’s Day I finally got a response email from UF.

Mind you, I am sitting eating food at my kitchen table and reading the email that says, ‘Congratulations! You have been accepted to the University of Florida.’ There was no jumping, no crying and no hugging my parents. I had a mouthful of food, looked at the email, went into my mom’s room and announced, “I’m going to The University of Florida.”

I don’t know what told me to choose UF. Suddenly I had a gut feeling that Gainesville was where I was meant to be. Once the thought of ‘I’m going to be a Gator’ sunk in, I was beyond excited.

You may think I’m making this up. You may wonder how a Nole fan can suddenly change her mind in a few seconds, but I did. And I never looked back.

I have never questioned my decision or thought about what life would be like as a Nole. The second I moved to Gainesville, it felt right: The atmosphere, the small town college environment, and even the color combination of orange and blue. From then on, I knew I was a devoted fan for life.

Take it from someone who went through all of her other options beforehand: The University of Florida is truly Florida’s greatest school.