Going Away to College

Going off to college can be a scary experience, but going to college in another state can be terrifying. I grew up in a small town outside of Orlando, Florida and when I was first looking at schools to live out my dream of becoming a sports broadcaster, I never would have thought I'd have to move over two thousand miles away to fulfill this dream. For most in Florida, there’s really only three options for college; University of Miami, University of Florida, and Florida State University. For me, it was Florida State. While I was accepted into all three, they just didn't have the same opportunities that I knew I would get out of state. So I applied to Arizona State University, to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and I got in.

It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, so my family and I packed up and trekked exactly 2,148 miles west, to my new home. We moved immediately after I graduated and was thrown directly into the dreadful Arizona heat. When August rolled around for school, to say I was nervous was an understatement. I knew no one except my roommate who I’d met weeks prior at orientation, and I was terrified. Everyone around me knew someone, they’d made friends and I was sitting alone worried that I’d made the wrong decision taking this chance.

But soon I would learn that the risk I had taken was worth it. Despite my anxiety of looking like a complete idiot and not making any friends, I joined a club. I started with Blaze Radio, our college radio station. Weekly I would come in, sit in with the DJs and deliver a sports update. Little did I know that one of those DJs would become my best friend.

While it may have been a simple task, it gave me the confidence to branch out and try more things. One of those being an interview for an internship. Internships are required for graduation at the Cronkite school, and being a first semester freshman, I didn’t think I had a shot at all getting picked, but I thought to myself that there was no downside to applying, so I did. I was hired by ASU Video Production, where I would spend the next year and a half working alongside some of the best videographers and editors that I have ever met. That internship allowed me so many other opportunities and allowed me to build great relationships.

School and work can be nerve wracking, but it’s not impossible. Going across the country to reach your goals may seem out of your reach, but if you don’t take the chance you’ll never know what will come of it. Apply for the job you want, even if you think you’re not qualified. Apply to a school across the country even though you’ve never even stepped foot in the state. So go out there, take a deep breath and jump at those opportunities, even if they scare you. Take those chances, because you never know how beneficial it will be to you.

“The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You've got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances." - Patrick Warburton