By Joseph Gonzales
When it comes to college there are about one fourth of students who attend out of state schools in the United States. 58% of students go to school within 100 miles of their hometown but at McPherson College there are less than 30% who are from McPherson and attend the institution.
Going to school out of state is often more expensive and requires a sense of stability. There are a lot of kids who travel out of state for sports and end up loving it but on the other end there are always kids who don’t end up finishing school at their institution because of family needs or personal needs. Going out of state requires independence and a sense of urgency, it’s not like highschool where you will have someone to help motivate you and stay on top of your grades, you will have to be self driven. Going to school in state can often be easier for a lot of people because you will still be in the same environment you’re used to, you won’t have to step too far out of your box. Not only does it make you more comfortable but you will still have your friends and family to make you feel better when you are stressed or feeling incomplete.
To get a better understanding of what it is like to live in your hometown and go to school there I decided to Interview Lucy Bowman a senior who will graduate this year at McPherson College and Seth Madron who is currently a junior at McPherson College. Both of these individuals are from McPherson and decided to stay to further their own education. When talking to Ms. Bowman she loved going to school so close to home, at first she decided to go to McPherson College because she didn’t even have to drive there and she said the longer she stayed there the more she enjoyed it. Ms. Bowman is very intelligent as she started attending college at an astounding age 13, she was taking highschool and college credits at the same time giving her challenges she loved. Ms. Bowman Stated that “Going home to them everyday is amazing” she was talking about her family, Lucy cherishes the fact that she gets to stay around her family as much as she wants. Ms.Bowman is about to graduate and this year she wanted to make it a point to get out a little bit more, she tutors in the library and even bought a meal plan to really understand her experience here at McPherson college. Another question I asked Ms. Bowman was about the pros of going to school and having the same community around you. She stated that she feels lucky to have such a supportive community around her for as long as she has and wouldn’t go back and change a thing if she could. Lastly Ms. Bowman expresses her fear as she plans to go to the University of Pennsylvania for her masters, she agrees that it will provide her with some independence as she makes a lot of new experiences but does not want to leave her community she has built so much in.
After interviewing Ms. Bowman during her time at McPherson College I was curious to hear what Mr. Madron had to say. When asked about why he chose McPherson College he specifically said “ I want to be close to my family”. Mr. Madron had a high interest offer from the basketball team at McPherson College and thought it would work well for him to go to school in his hometown. I asked him what some negative points about going to school so close to home as well, he said “ Overall I don’t see being close to my community negative, the only thing I can see that would be a downfall is the fact that I am able to lean on my parents and be dependent when I want to.” Following this question I did ask if he was able to grow independently despite being so close to home and he said that having his community so close to him did not affect his potential growth, he feels like there were plenty of experiences he still had to do alone in order to succeed. The last question I asked Mr. Madron was how he thinks his college experience would have been different if he went out of state. He said that he had a lot of connections made before even coming to McPherson College, going out of state for him would have been stepping outside of his box and making a lot of new relationships. Mr. Madron was not opposed to this but also didn’t see it as the best option for him. Overall he was very content and still is with his decision to go to school and stay in McPherson a bit longer.
Overall from conducting these interviews I was able to tell that both Mr. Madron and Ms. Bowman were very happy to be close to their family and community while going to school, although they did express some negative points it was mainly all positive. If you are thinking of leaving for independence maybe you should think about your decision a bit longer.
Picture Cred: Vanessa Schroeder
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