My recent past experiences with Columbus aren't the most memorable. In high school I spent a gloomy weekend there in a tiny church with my church youth group. It was an odd experience, and it didn't help that my friend's car got towed overnight. God may be forgiving but those tow-truck people surely aren't. Then in college, on our way to a race at Penn State, we got into a four-car accident right outside of Columbus. We met the tow truck people again because one car was totaled (she avoided the accident but the semi behind her didn't - it totaled her car and the people inside were honestly lucky to walk away without a scratch). Things started to look up this past December when my boyfriend and I drove out to see a Pens-Blue Jackets game. The game was a blast - my only complaint was that our dining options prior to the game were very limited. Regardless, my feelings toward C-bus have been a little apathetic.
But I still wasn't sure what to make of it. With time to kill I asked if we could take a look at Ohio State's campus. My new friend Yappy was more than happy to show me around.
We drove around the campus - me asking what every building was, Yappy explaining, and my friend Ryan complaining because he is a Michigan fan. We stopped and took a visit inside the student union. It reminded me of Ball State's student center, only a tad bit cooler. As we continued exploring, I realized, based solely on aesthetics, that I really liked Ohio State. I liked the size of the campus. I liked how many people I saw, despite it being summer. I liked the vibe I was getting from it. As we continued driving and I saw their version of a village, it clicked with me: this was the college I had dreamed of my whole life. This was the place, that had I explored more, I would've ended up going to.
It is big and thriving, contrary to the town Ball State sits in. Some may call it Funcie but I usually find nothing fun about it. I confessed to my OSU friends that had I known what Muncie really was like prior to deciding on Ball State, I probably wouldn't have gone. I would picked the rural college town of Miami. Or Ohio State. Or Penn State (if I could have afforded it). Of course it's too late to realize these things now: after this summer I'm officially done with my undergrad.
I don't know why places and locations matter so much to me. But for a minute there in Columbus I felt a little sorry for myself. Sorry that I missed out on a school like Ohio State and a town like Columbus. Sorry that Ball State was not located there. Sorry I hadn't done my research and simply went with my gut.
The good news is though, I did not go with what I found aesthetically pleasing. I did go with my gut. Long before ever seeing Ball State I had a feeling that was the school I was going to end up going to. As far as journalism schools went, it was the only other one I had heard of that wasn't too far from home, and wasn't OU. Call it intuition, but I think I was right.
Although I will never love Muncie, and I will never get to know what it would be like to attend college in a town I actually like, I will never regret my decision to attend Ball State. I wanted to attend college with the intention of learning about how to be a writer. While the learning process has only begun, I would say my time at BSU was a success. Plus, hearing my boss say he would consider me for a position if Cincinnati Magazine was hiring also kind of reconfirms that :)
My loyalty will always lie within a little city in the Hooiser state. But it was fun getting to be a temporary Buckeye.
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