24 - open topic

I have always had a special connection with Northwestern University. My mom's best friend lives 5 minutes from the campus, so we would go there often as kids, as my mom lived in Chicago for 10 years. It was the first college campus (besides Pitt and CMU which are in my neighborhood and don't count) that I ever really looked at, even though I was way too young to be thinking about college. It was kind of always my dream. Then junior year happened and I started thinking about colleges and I was still afraid of planes and didn't have time to drive to Evanston, and I didn't have the grades anyway, and I just never really planned on applying. In retrospect, I think this was a really great thing. Even if I had gotten in it would have been too far from home and it would have been too hard for me, but most likely I would have gotten rejected and it would break that spiritual bond I have with NU. It's my school-away-from-school, and being there this weekend really made me feel connected and grounded in Evanston. Two of my best friends from high school are sophomores there and my ex boyfriend with whom I'm really close goes as well, so hopefully there will be many more visits in my future, and even though it sucks that I don't go there, my decision to not apply shields me from any bitterness or remorse I might have toward them. It's a beautiful, special place and even though it's very different from Michigan and I definitely don't think of it as better than Michigan in any way, I'll always kind of think of NU as a welcoming and peaceful place.

Go Wildcats.