A Small Town Kid Excels at a Big Ten University

No one ever expects a small town kid to attend a large university, let alone excel at one. The plan is always to attend a community college first for two years, then to a state school or join the workforce.

If college is not the plan, then the military, the workforce or nothing at all suits many other small town kids who have just graduated high school.

I wanted so much more.

First and foremost, I wanted to leave my small town of Taylorville, Illinois. Not because I didn’t like it, but because I wanted to gain more experiences in life.

I knew college was the right path for me, but I wasn’t sure where was best for me. When I was looking at various colleges both junior and senior year, none of them stuck out to me. Until I visited the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

I knew the school would be a long shot in being accepted, but if I didn’t try, I would never know.

Something just felt right about Illinois. I don’t know if I was the perfect location (1 hour and 15 minutes way from my hometown), the people or it’s history.

Illinois is regarded as one of the best public universities in the country. I knew it would be difficult to be accepted, but once I was, that’s where I would be going.