By Kelly Gould
Senior Admissions Counselor

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