I could sum up today’s prompt in one word. What colleges have you attended? One, just one. But what fun would it be to end the conversation with just a word? It wouldn’t at all. If I left it up to the simple word of one, you wouldn’t know all that went into picking where I had my college experience. I look back at my reasons now and laugh. I’ve spent the last few months listening to stressed-out seniors freaking out about their college decisions. Part of me wonders if I should have put more pressure on myself, but in the end, it doesn’t matter where I earned my degree from. I wouldn’t change anything.
When I started high school, I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life when I graduated: I wanted to be a marine biologist. I had spent nearly all my summers at marine biology camp studying fish and ocean life. Basically living at the beach for as much as someone could without a car and watching documentaries on marine life. While the internet wasn’t like it is today, I did as much research as I could about my future career. That was until I took my first biology class. I realized I’d rather swim in the ocean surrounded by fish than I liked the actual science behind the creatures.
I felt perplexed. I had spent the last three young years of my life thinking I would dedicate my future to the study and survival of the marine world, and now I wanted nothing to do with it. I still loved spending time at the beach. However, it was more for an escape and a place to be rather than study. I shifted gears from marine biologist to an underwater videographer. I figured I could blend my two passions together.
I spent countless hours in my guidance counselor’s office trying to figure out what college would suit me best. God knows how much of that poor woman’s time I wasted. She was sweet and indulged my dreams. Looking back, I can see how she guided me in the best way she could, finding schools that dealt with ocean studies and still had a film department. Either way, I was doomed, because pursuing a career in film is just as challenging as marine biology. I am not sure when my gears shifted from the underwater world to the surface, but eventually I focused only on a communication degree.
I remember some people asking what I planned on doing with my future, especially because I wasn’t seeking a journalism or a film degree. I told them I didn’t know. I know I enjoyed directing our student run newscast, but I also loved creative writing. At one point, I didn’t even want to get a degree and wanted to dive right into work. But my mom persuaded me to earn my degree, just in case I changed my mind.
My choice in a more open degree allowed me more freedom in picking where I could go to school over my friends who were seeking a more specific degree. I knew I had to stay in Florida; I had earned bright futures, and out-of-state tuition was insanely expensive. My parents and I discussed different schools. Orlando had UCF, St. Augustine had Flagler College, Tallahassee had FSU, Jacksonville had UNF, and Gainesville had UF. My SAT scores ruled out UF and, for some reason, I had no interest in FSU.
The university I toured was UCF. While the campus was pretty and was in very close relations with Disney and Universal, my mom and I had a weird vibe about the school. The tour guide focused on the engineering building. When we asked them to show us the film school, the person just pointed in the general direction and said we could go look after the tour was over. Now this wouldn’t be such a problem if the majors were mixed, but the tour was for communication and film majors, and yet the person outright refused to show us the film school.
My students would be shocked if I told them this. UCF is where most Florida film students go now as their backup school if they do not get accepted into FSU’s film school. However, this was nearly two decades ago, and I’m not sure if the program had the same notoriety as it does now.
Another hit the school had against it was its distance from the beach. Although I said I was focused on above water production, I still went to the beach in my free time. The thought of driving over an hour instead of the usual ten minutes was not appealing to me. Yes, I know this makes me sound a bit spoiled, but growing up in South Florida allows us certain luxuries that other places do not. We also spend a good portion of the year boiling from the sun and six months out of the year praying that hurricanes don’t hit, but it’s a give and take. The beach was my happy place and brought me peace, and I was certain I would need it in college. My mental health became more of a priority than I realized.
The next university we looked at was FAU in Boca Raton. I knew little about the school, other than it was 45 minutes from my parents’ house and dangerously close to the beach. When we got to the campus, it was beautiful, filled with trees and history. The campus was initially built as an air force base during WWII. Despite the campus’ growing popularity and updates, remnants of its military past remained. Some of the old dorms were once barracks, and the breezeway was a runway. Our tour guide shared a lot of information about the school’s history, including Nazi submarines near the coast during the war. The tour of the campus had a different vibe than UCF. The students we saw looked relaxed and having fun. When we asked the tour guide about the communication program, they promptly took us over to the Art and Letters building and broke down what the school offered. They also informed us about two more campuses that housed the production classes.
When we left the school, I felt comfortable, unlike when I left UFC. I knew a lot of my friends were applying to UCF and had plans to work for Disney and Universal, but I knew my path wasn’t the same. My mom asked when I wanted to go tour Flager and I said I didn’t want to. I wanted to go to FAU. She asked what if I didn’t get in? I laughed because no one got rejected from FAU. I told her I liked how the tour guides seemed excited about the school they went to. The school was small, so I would have more intimate classes. I also liked that I could take film, theater and any other classes that I was interested in without getting off track for my degree. Also, I loved how the tour guide brought up if there were a few hours between classes how easy it was to go to the beach.
So while all my friends were stressing out about where they would go to school and how, whether or not they would get in, I started planning what classes I would take. I knew it was only a matter of time before I got my acceptance letter. I was eager to learn about the historic and academic side of film, along with the production side. But I was also excited to plan my days at the beach.