From 300 Students to 3,000
For all my life, except for Kindergarten, I went to a private school. All of these schools had a limit of 300 kids or less. It never felt that small to me. Perhaps it was because it was all I had known. However, I did develop normal social skills. For a long while I did not feel sheltered. But then, college hit.
I decided my junior year of high school that I was sick of the small school feel. Everyone not only knew my name, but my whole life story. Rumors traveled twice as fast, drama happened more easily, and escaping a bad friend or an ex was almost impossible because you had the same friends or the same classes or saw each other in the halls everyday. I was also done with the Seventh-Day Adventist bubble. Their beliefs just never agreed with mine. I yearned for a new taste on life and view on God. So, my senior year I finally decided to attend George Fox University.
Before school started, I felt pretty confident with my decision. I knew it would be bigger than I had been around before, but I wanted that feeling. I wanted to attend a non-denominational Christian university because I knew the views on God would be more diverse and refreshing.
All of these assumptions were true, but I did have a very bumpy start. For the first semester, I felt like a tiny fish in a huge ocean. It seemed harder to get to know people and get used to life on my own. It was overwhelming and depressing. Every single day still I see people I have never seen before. This was a big culture shock.
It took me a long time to feel confident and comfortable in this environment. Going from 300 students to almost 3,000 is very overwhelming. However, now I feel right at home in this bigger environment, and I am absolutely satisfied with my decision to attend this school.
I decided my junior year of high school that I was sick of the small school feel. Everyone not only knew my name, but my whole life story. Rumors traveled twice as fast, drama happened more easily, and escaping a bad friend or an ex was almost impossible because you had the same friends or the same classes or saw each other in the halls everyday. I was also done with the Seventh-Day Adventist bubble. Their beliefs just never agreed with mine. I yearned for a new taste on life and view on God. So, my senior year I finally decided to attend George Fox University.
Before school started, I felt pretty confident with my decision. I knew it would be bigger than I had been around before, but I wanted that feeling. I wanted to attend a non-denominational Christian university because I knew the views on God would be more diverse and refreshing.
All of these assumptions were true, but I did have a very bumpy start. For the first semester, I felt like a tiny fish in a huge ocean. It seemed harder to get to know people and get used to life on my own. It was overwhelming and depressing. Every single day still I see people I have never seen before. This was a big culture shock.
It took me a long time to feel confident and comfortable in this environment. Going from 300 students to almost 3,000 is very overwhelming. However, now I feel right at home in this bigger environment, and I am absolutely satisfied with my decision to attend this school.
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