I remember being a senior in high school and having to make that awful decision: Where to go to college. I remember being disappointed that my top schools either wait-listed me, rejected me, or were-heinously-too-expensive-for-me.
I remember having a minor tantrum as we drove up to Baltimore to interview for the final round of the Humanities scholarship at UMBC. The only thing I knew about the list of schools I’d applied to was this: I didn’t want to go to UMBC.
I remember spending a weekend at UMBC with Tracy and Christy as I was making my big girl college decision. They were both freshmen, both girls I’d terrifically looked up to in high school. It happened that they were both really into Student Government, as I was. They were super fun. And funny. They laughed a ton.
Tracy and Christy showed me around Baltimore, and I remember feeling as if I’d seen the city for the first time. They were both probably uber-stressed with studying, but they graciously hosted me in their Potomac dorm room and showed me all around campus, too.
I had driven up to meet Tracy and Christy threatening God, like the best of them. (“If you want me to go to this school you better change my heart. I don’t want to go here.”) But I drove home with peace in my seventeen year old heart. UMBC would be my school. English would be my major. Tracy and Christy probably never knew how much their hospitality influenced me towards these nice things.
Thankfully, I got that scholarship, and during my sophomore year UMBC started a Division I women’ golf team my that I captained. Not only did I get a world-class education, but I got to play golf, lead Young Life at Catonsville High, and pay hardly a thing for any of it.
Yes, I also got to go study in Rome for a semester with Tracy, et al. Oh holy amazingness, that was. This whole post is really just a love-ploy to try to get back in touch with her, after all of these years. Christy, too.
yep… same story for me. I had my heart set on RIT in Rochester, NY. During a trip up there to get the tour and placate my family, Catonsville’s elite offered me a full scholarship and I couldn’t say no.
Still wish I had taken more advantage of what UMBC had to offer instead of hanging out at UMCP all the time… but it was a great school.
I miss hearing “Tray-ceee Tuc-ker” almost as much as “Tri-hi-po-sta-tic BEEEEEing”