I’m 720 Miles from Home and I Love It

You might be wondering how a girl from down in Austin ended up in a small college town in northern Mississippi. This is the story of a Longhorn by birth who became a baby Reb by choice.

McCombs School of Business. That was my goal from the moment I started high school. Step one was getting accepted to the University of Texas. I just needed to be in the top 7% of my class, easy right? In my class that meant literally being one of the top 7 students in my class –  a class that produced 15 National Merit recognized students.  When I found out I had made the cut the summer before my senior year I was ecstatic. Next step was to send in my application and pray as many Rosaries as humanly possible. 

My first acceptance letter was actually from the University of Mississippi and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Next came my general acceptance into UT, which I knew was coming, and then acceptance to Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. I had been considered for the Business Honors program at McCombs, but received an email basically saying I was not up to par for their program. Devastated, I told myself I would attend Ole Miss.

Fast forward to February 16, 2017. I was in the middle of St. Dominic Savio’s Annual Cuts for Cancer pep rally. I had just cut 8 inches of my hair when my mom pulls me into the hallway. I got in. I had been accepted to the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. I broke down in tears of relief and immense happiness. I ran into the gym and told anyone who would listen to me. My dream had come true. I was going to follow in my parent’s footsteps and be a Longhorn. 

Fast forward  again to a month later. Part of me was uneasy about attending UT and I didn’t know why. Turns out there was this school in Oxford, Mississippi that was calling my name and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. So I packed my bags, hopped on a plane and returned to Ole Miss for one last visit. I met with Mimi at the Honors College and I knew I had found my home for the next four years. My choice was only solidified by attending an Ole Miss-Mississippi State baseball game. I cannot express how I excited I am for those baseball nights at Swayze Field this season.

I called my friends and broke the news. Some were supportive, others shocked. Why would one of the smartest girls in the grade go to Mississippi? What about the Ivy Leagues? Can’t anyone slide into Ole Miss?

I came to the University of Mississippi because it felt like home. I knew from the moment I stepped on campus last spring that I had just become part of the greatest family in the South. They always say Ole Miss is a big university with a small college feel and that is completely true. I am part of the best football conference in the nation. I have access to some of the smartest and most experienced professors in the South. The people I have met in my short few months on campus have already changed my life forever.

If you would have asked me a year ago where I would be in life, I would not have told you Oxford, Mississippi. Now sitting here in September 2017, I can honestly say there is no other place I’d rather be. My journey as an Ole Miss Rebel has just begun.