Coming to Antioch was like entering a whole new world. During my senior year of high school, I was hesitant about even wanting to come to college. I was scrolling through the list of schools on the common app website that have rolling admission when I scrolled over Antioch. I didn’t even know where Ohio was on the map, I had barely been out of Washington state and had assumed my whole life I would stay there. Needless to say, I applied to almost every school on the common app website that had rolling admission but my thoughts kept coming back to Antioch and how different it was. 

I was in my 6th period TA class when I got the news I had been accepted to Antioch. I had gotten a notification saying something in my application had changed and shortly after got a phone call from Shane congratulating me. The moment he called me I felt important. I felt like Antioch actually wanted me as a student. I had been accepted to other colleges already, but I had never been called and personally congratulated. After stepping outside to talk to Shane he brought up the idea of me coming to admitted students weekend, which was only a few weeks away. I was intrigued but had no idea how I was going to do that, my family didn’t even know I was accepted yet nor did I have the money to fly to Ohio. I remember running upstairs to my academic advisor’s office and telling him the news and him saying if there’s any way I could get there, it would be a priceless experience. After talking with my family, doing some navigating, and MANY texts back and forth with Shane, it was decided that I would be coming to admitted students weekend, by myself, from Tacoma to Yellow Springs. 

The days leading up to me leaving were filled with a lot of anxiety. I packed and repacked my suitcase multiple times, not knowing what to wear, only wanting to make a good impression on my potential future peers even if it was just for a weekend. I flew into Dayton around midnight and remember looking around my flight and the airport trying to figure out if there were other students that I could spot that Shane was picking up. We were the first students to arrive and we were all from different states. During the car ride to campus from the airport I remember looking out the window at the plethora of cornfields and wondering what exactly I was getting myself into. When we finally got to campus we were escorted to North Hall where we were given blankets and pillows and our room assignments. I had my own room and was ecstatic. 

After flying all day I went to take a shower in the bathrooms, a topic I had tried to research but it turns out every school’s dorm bathrooms are vastly different. I remember once I was finished showering looking outside the stall and seeing a puddle of water that had come from my shower. I was terrified. I had no idea how to clean it up and convinced myself that I had not only broken the shower but that they were going to take away my offer of admission because of it. I spent a good amount of time that night trying to clean up the water with paper towels that are terrible at picking up bodies of water. I now know that this is how the showers were designed and that the water goes away on its own. 

The next day was when the fun actually started. I remember meeting all the admitted students and being amazed at how different everyone was. It felt like everyone was being their authentic selves. Truthfully I don’t remember much about the things we did but I do remember being absolutely comfortable and feeling like this was where I was supposed to be. There was one point where I was in a group and started to feel like I wasn’t connecting with anyone very well and a then-current student took notice and came up and started talking to me. Later that day, that same student saw me walking around and started talking to me and remembered my name from earlier. It was in this moment that I really realized that I wasn’t just another number, I was wanted at Antioch, I was remembered. Later on, that night I and some of the other admitted students stayed up and talked all night until the next morning when we had to leave for the airport. We talked about what we were nervous about, what we were excited about and our plans going forward. It was then I knew Antioch would be my future home. Leaving admitted students weekend I knew I had made connections that would last. 

The time in between admitted students weekend and new student orientation felt like an eternity. I couldn’t wait to be in my dorm room, immersed in the Antioch experience. I remember walking into the south gym for orientation and scanning the room, searching for any recognizable faces. I saw one of my now best friends and her mom that I had met over admitted students weekend across the gym and we waved at each other, both ecstatic to see someone we knew. Once I had done all of my orientation tasks, I remember staring at the doors, waiting for people that I had met to come in. I was surprised at how many students that were at the admitted students weekend that had decided on Antioch. As they came through the door and we made eye contact, we would wave, excited to see yet another familiar face. These are the faces I get to see every day, along with many other new faces. I may not get to see them in person right now due to COVID but I still get to see them online and know that I will see them in person again. I also know that we will be just as excited to see each other as we were when we reconnected at orientation. As I said, I knew at admitted students weekend that I had made connections that would last.