“What am I doing here?”
That was my first thought as my dad and I settled into the Barrett Information Session at the Downtown campus of Arizona State University. By “here,” I did not mean ASU. I had always known I wanted to be close to home--Tempe campus was 20 minutes from my parents. I was looking for options-- ASU provided a catalog of majors and opportunities in a thousand directions. Choosing to be a Sun Devil was a no-brainer. Whether or not to be a lifelong Honors kid was another kind of bird. By “here,” I meant being admitted, accepted, and willfully attending an event that would prolong my title as an “honors kid”. At college. Sigh.
Now, my plan for life after high school was to move on and gain a few memories while earning a degree. Simple, right? My principal didn’t think so. Attending a small high school meant my principal knew my goals, plans, and abilities, which lead to him assigning my application to Barrett, the Honors College. “What do you have to lose?” he asked. Nothing. I had everything to gain. Looking back, I will be forever grateful for Mr. Ihms, who pushed through my simple plan to show me a greater reality.
Back to Orientation.
I had been accepted to Barrett and with a slightly revised plan, was expecting to be in Tempe, rocking a campus I was familiar with that included a Harry Potter dining hall. Silly me. As a Nursing major I was getting to join the ranks of Downtown Sun Devils and Downtown Barrett students. Definitely not in the plan. After the PowerPoint of Phoenix’s opportunities and the overview of Barrett as a whole, I waited to speak with the Honors Devil, Kelsey Roderique. As she began to answer my question of “Why? Why Barrett?” I couldn’t help but notice her light up. It was like igniting a firework on a hot, Fourth of July night. Kelsey bubbled with enthusiasm and support for Barrett Downtown and the community built on the Phoenix campus. She shared her own experience and when I found out that her major was in transition (something I couldn’t imagine choosing as the newbie to the college scene), I was prompted to notice her relaxed manner. Her explanation of the support and community Barrett offers began to draw me in, creating a new desire to exceed with others, to be a part of an innovative community, to pursue more than my simple college plan.
At the end of Orientation, my dad, who had accompanied me, asked me what I thought. The opportunities were obvious and after a reexamination of my “plan,” I knew there was nothing to hold me back in joining the Barrett class of 2015. Fast forward 5 months and I was moving onto the Eleventh floor of Taylor Place, about to start a new adventure. That evening, our entire floor joined for frozen yogurt at Yogurtini, where the resumés started flying and all the attendees started to discover for ourselves who we, the Barrett kids, really were. Each student I met had a unique ambition and goal for their college experience with open minds and welcoming views towards every other person there. We were about to embark on uncharted waters and had just found seventy other fellow sailors to aid us along the way.
Barrett, the Honors College is not only a means to an end. I have no doubt that the community and support system Barrett offers is unavailable at any other university. The advisors have given me the guidance and direction I need to discover new plans, new dreams, and new abilities. My fellow classmates have pushed my thinking, challenged my arguments, and created some of my favorite memories to date from the dinners, events, and late-night Human Event readings we’ve helped each other comprehend. By choosing to be a part of Barrett, I not only gained a stronger base for the rest of my years at ASU but dependable friendships, classes that stretch my knowledge’s limits, and the drive to not settle for easy, not stick to only one plan, and abilities to succeed beyond my undergraduate years at Arizona State University. I am a proud honors kid and know my identity does not solely depend on that fact. Barrett has taught me more than philosophy and essay style. The Honors College has brought me to a present that has an even brighter future.
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