5 Reasons I’m Glad I Went Out-of-State for College

By Kelly Gould
Senior Admissions Counselor

Texas

I’ll admit it. I was a late college decision maker. If you’re like some of my friends and have known since birth where you would go to college that’s cool, but that wasn’t me. There I was, April of senior year and I still hadn’t decided where to go to school.

Would I stay close to home or take the leap and move four states away to Texas to attend Baylor? I really wanted to come to Texas and go to Baylor, but there were fears I had to face. There were the fears I could identify — being far from my family, missing my friends, the distance. But then there was also just the general fear of the unknown. Clearly, since you’re reading this, you know that I ultimately decided to come to Baylor, and I’ve since graduated, lived abroad, and now work here and love it.

But in case you’re in the same boat, trying to decide whether or not to come to Baylor from out-of-state, I thought I’d share the 5 reasons I’m glad I went out of state.

1. Independence
To be honest, the thought of the independence I would have in college was both exciting and terrifying. But more than not having a curfew for the first time in my life (which was pretty great), the independence I experienced in coming to college out-of-state forced me to mature and become more confident in myself. The personal growth I experienced and the confidence I developed helped me after graduation when I decided to spend one year living abroad teaching English.

2. Lifelong Friends
I was sad to leave my friends from high school and was nervous about starting over in making friends, but it didn’t take long to make connections at Baylor. I met one of my lifelong best friends while I was eating lunch on the very first day of college. From Orientation to Welcome Week, Baylor creates a lot of opportunities for you to develop new friendships.

3. Second Families
No one will ever replace your parents and siblings, but a perk of going to college out of state is that you will find second families. An out-of-state friend of mine had appendicitis our freshman year and our good friend’s mom who lived nearby came and took care of her at the hospital until her mom could make it to Waco the next day. You will not be alone. Period. And people will want to adopt you and welcome you into their families and activities.

4. Bravery
Going to school out-of-state made me brave. I’ve always been a dreamer but had often been scared by the unknown. Making the decision to move thousands of miles from home made me realize that I’m braver than I thought I was. I think you’ll find the same thing.

5. Texas
Truthfully, I had my doubts about Texas in general. It seemed like the people I knew who were from Texas just LOVED it and thought it was the best place in the world. Well, I might have been a little resistant freshman year, but I’ll admit that by sophomore year I’d started accidentally saying “y’all.” By junior year I’d bought my first pair of cowboy boots, and by senior year my parents wanted to move to Texas. No matter what stereotypes you have about Texas, it was a great place to go to college and now I really enjoy living here.

I hope this helps ease any fears you may have about coming to Baylor from out of state. If you want to talk more, feel free to call the office at (254) 710-3435.

Sic ‘Em,

Kelly

An Honest, Helpful Hand

By Micah Furlong

Ah, the season of new beginnings. Everything is about to change in your life. You’re starting a brand new adventure, and you’re trying to figure out where you think you should go to college.

And suddenly, you find yourself reading this blog.

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I hope to be helpful to you in this process because a million and a half people helped me while I was in your seat. I don’t imagine that everyone is as scared as I was, but you might be reading these ramblings because you feel some sort of the same anxiety I went through. So in that aspect, I’m going to try to be helpful.

But I will also be honest, which may not seem helpful at times. Baylor is a wonderful school, but it is by no means perfect. There are flaws, injustices and nitpicky issues that I will discuss. But don’t think I’m always a downer. I came to Baylor, and pay good money, because I enjoy a lot about it. I hope that for every con I might show, I also show a pro that you should experience.

Maybe I should let you know a little bit about myself.

This is me.

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I’m a bit awkward. I enjoy writing and prefer poetry. I’m part of the Honors College under the University Scholars program, which they didn’t really explain well until I actually got here. I’ll tell you some more about it at some point in the future, I’m sure. But basically, I’m free to create my own major – which is perhaps the coolest I’ve ever heard a college doing in the history of everything, including when Oxford invented toast. I study philosophy, political science, philosophy, history and philosophy.

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I’m sure that I’ll reveal more and more controversial things in the near future (like the fact that I’m a liberal in the South). But for now, I’m just the guy who, in the love of Christ, is trying to help out you as much as I can.