Three and a half years ago, I took a long shot. I transferred to a school I had never seen before and had no idea what to expect. When I was graduating high school, it was the end of the Pandemic, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Well, that isn’t all that true, for years now I have dreamed of being a New York City Fireman. My family and friends all knew it. To get extra points on the exam, I planned on joining the United States Air Force since candidates with military experience would achieve 5 extra points on the exam. In the AirForce I planned to be work in transport which meant that I would be driving trucks around and achieving my commercial driver’s license in the process. This would open another possibility for careers, and I could become a cross-country truck driver upon leaving the military. After many conversations with recruiters, it came time to talk to my parents about my decision. My Father was ecstatic, he was so proud that his oldest son would be joining the military and serving our country but my mother, was not so happy. My mother was very unhappy with the current leadership of the country and vowed to never talk to me ever again if I decided to join. So, I had to make a decision. I was never the best student and high school so always thought I would drown at college and end up failing out, but I am still here and will be walking across the stage next Saturday with the piece of paper that none of my parents were able to achieve. While applying for schools I’m pretty sure I submitted all of my applications at 11:59 pm, the day of the deadline. I applied to a bunch of schools all over the East Coast but got differed from every SUNY. So, at the time I could choose from East Carolina University or West Virgina, both considered two of the Top party schools on the east coast. When it came down to decision day and after doing a lot of research, I realized none of those schools would be good for me because I would fail out if I chose any of those. So, I decided to go to my parent’s alma mater (with associates degrees) which was just a short 20-minute drive away from my house, SUNY Farmingdale. Which in my mind was just a community college on Long Island with the SUNY title. I hated it, I would leave class and then go to work or home. I wasn’t happy. I wish I had chosen to go away to school but remembered I couldn’t be too far away from my family as much as they drove me crazy. So as the first semester wrapped up, I began contemplating between two schools, Oneonta and Cortland. My family are alumni from both schools but none of them ever finished. When I chose Cortland, I vowed that I was going to be the first one to leave one of these schools and achieve my 4-year degree. So, I committed to Cortland as a Physical Education Major, mainly because I always wanted to coach football. I decided to come to a school I had never visited before, and I did not know a single sole when I decided to come. After multiple Facebook message attempts, I was forced to settle with a random roommate. Let’s just say that didn’t go to well but I did find a few friends along the way. I finished that first semester with a 2.3 GPA and that became the common theme for a few years, balancing along the lines of being on academic warning and probation and that was the story of every semester until I switched over to Communications Studies. I decided to make the switch because it offered me a lot of flexibility in my future career, whatever that may be. Since my horrifying freshmen year roommate experience, I have met a lot of people who I believe will be my lifelong friends. I am so grateful to have chosen Cortland as my home for the last 3.5 years and I am so excited to see what comes next in my life.
Thank You Cortland.