The Key to . . . No’s, Pros, and Hello’s

My grandmother encouraged me to start off the day (and the rest of my life, really) being open minded. To not say no so quickly. To ponder. To question. To think before I spoke.

It was an early start—for a Saturday at least; over the sixty minutes as Ms. Garmin lead us to Bridgewater, I slowly woke up. By the time we got there, parked, and found our way to the first stop of the day, I was more then ready for the continental breakfast.

Hello Count: 2

First stop: The Registration Table.

Pros: I got a t-shirt and a cool pen (oh how I love pens!).

Cons: I don’t think there were any…it was the registration table after all.

Hello Count: 4

Second stop (or thirty feet away): Dining Hall.

Pros: Good muffins. Huge dining hall. Great campus views. Cons: 0.

Hello Count: 6

Third stop: Welcoming and Introductions.

Pros: Loved the theatre they took us in; small and reminded me of an old church/playhouse and HHS.  The VP of Admissions elaborated on the community feel of BC and their love of “hello”. I enjoyed hearing the president of their Ambassador program speak about her own love for BC and the sense of community they share.

Cons: We were squished like sardines in the theatre…I did say it was small.

Hello Count: 9

Fourth stop: Student Panel. (For the Parents—a Parents’ Panel)

Pros: I cannot stress how much I love that they separated us from our parents’! Normally, I would have been a little..oh, what’s the word? anxious, about being away from my parents’ but I felt really comfortable…must have been the hellos. In front of a panel of six ambassadors, we were given the opportunity to write down questions for them to each answer in front of us. Because they were obviously different people, with different personalities and backgrounds, they all gave different insights on BC as a whole. The size. The classes. The athletics. The clubs. The opportunities. The community. The one thing that reigned supreme? Their love for BC.

Cons: Being herded for the second time to another too small room..I guess when your student population is 1500, you don’t need huge rooms.

Hello Count: over 15

Fifth stop: Meet and Greet with Department Heads and Coaches.

Pros: Reunited with the family in the Funkhouser Center, I recapped the student panel, talked to a business teacher, talked to one of the students who had led the panel, looked at the education table, and picked up a course catalog from this term.

Cons: 0.

Hello Count: 25

Sixth stop: Campus Tour.

Pros: Got to see nearly everything; classrooms, lecture halls, dorm rooms, the library (so important to Mother Dearest), computer labs, other dining areas, and the campus book store.

Cons: It was a trek…though the campus is a mere square mile, it felt A LOT longer going up and down stairs and stopping and starting.

Hello Count: Lost Count

At the beginning of our journey, my grandmother cautioned me to refrain from saying no. And I did…or tried to. Their were times, like in the theatre and on the tour, that I would have liked to say no, but I didn’t.

I let myself envision Hannah in Bridgewater. Alone. Without the parental units. To let the tours of UMW and SU fly out the window. To really think. Do I want a small class size? Absolutely. Do I want my professors’ to know me personally? A must. Do I want to feel at home? Yes, please. Is it close to home? A little over an hour from home, not too bad.

As the VP of Admissions said; it’s about finding the best fit for you. No where is the perfect fit; that’s home. But it’s about finding your home away from home. And I think I just might’ve found it.