Freshmen Friday

People ask me all the time, “How’s your first year in college going?” The truth is that it’s great! I could have never made a better decision than choosing Farmingdale State College as my home away from home. Now hold on, I know what you’re thinking, he is just selling the school with the cheesiest lines and phrases. I’m not like that. If I see something that’s too good to be true, I’m out the door. So before you go scrolling down or exiting off this page, just give me 2 minutes, and I’ll tell you the truth about FSC.

My journey takes us back to my senior year at high school. More specifically, it was February of my senior year. I was going to class like I normally would, and was pulled over by a teacher in the hallway. Usually speaking, that isn’t a good thing when that happens. He looked at me with very keen eyes, and the word was that when a teacher did that, you did something really bad to get them that way. He said hello and I replied the same. But then, he did something that completely threw me off guard. He smiled. In my head I’m thinking one of two things: A) I really did something wrong and he is just toying with me, or B) He’s psychologically making me think I did something wrong. What did I do? I never cut class, did all the homework from all my teachers, and I’m on the honor roll! Then he said, “What college are you going to next year?” Initially, my body relaxes, muscles loosen, and my heart beat calms down. I reply by saying that I’m in between a few right now: Nassau Community College (NCC), LIU, and Hofstra (Those were the top picks amongst my grade and figured he wouldn’t go to deep into a conversation). But the truth, like I mentioned earlier, was that I never thought about going to college. Let me re-phrase that, after high school I was going to college, but I figured it would be something like I go to a school, say I’m going here, they put me in the computer, and I’m in like that. Boy, was I wrong.

Now like I figured, he wished me luck and went to yell at a group of kids behind me. So, after that encounter, I realized it probably isn’t that simple to get in college. I went to the guidance counselor, and asked out of mere curiosity how to go about getting accepted by a college. She explained to me the whole song and a dance. First you have to apply to them, and that includes writing an essay, getting letters of recommendation, family background, and more. Wow, all that work and information, just to be considered into college. So, when I got home, I decided to begin the tedious process of filling out a college application. I scrolled down the page and realized that this was going to take me a minute. I grabbed some snacks, a water bottle, put in some ear buds for white noise, and jumped right into it.

After what felt like decades, I finally finished the application and sent to about five schools: NCC, LIU, Hofstra, Adelphi, and last but not least, Farmingdale State College (figured why not give it a shot; no harm, no foul). I told everyone for the next couple of weeks I sent my application to these schools (this time, I wasn’t lying). And sure enough, guess who accepted me? If you were thinking ALL OF THEM, you’re right! Now I had the decision to make. Which college to choose from? To be completely honest, I didn’t think anyone but NCC would pick me, but you know the other saying: good things happen to those who wait. And so, I weighed all my options: academic opportunity, job opportunity, distance (since I was commuting), and cost (since I would be the one paying the bill). I eliminated LIU, Hofstra, and Adelphi right off the bat (private schools are way out of my budget). Now I was left with NCC and FSC. Nassau is a bit cheaper, but for my purposes, it’s only a 2-year school. While Farmingdale, that’s a little more, but it has 4-year programs, some in which I’m interested in. I took a few days to think about it, FSC or NCC. FSC or NCC? FSC or NCC!

Once more, I sat down pondering alone in my room. I looked at the majors one last time. Now we are in the month of May, for your information (I have really bad stalling). I see the computer programming major and read it again. Sounds right, I love to make programs on the computer: Python, Java, C++, and other formats (big tech-savvy terms). I saw Farmingdale had one and went for it.

It was the best decision of my entire life. The program, though at times can be tough, is taught by some incredible teachers. Besides the academics of it, the campus life is awesome too. I met so many new people, and know so many more things, I wish college could never end, but you know. Life doesn’t wait. And neither should you. I encourage you to apply to FSC, believe me, you won’t regret it.