This question tends to come up a lot at the end of college; I’ve even been asking myself if there’s anything I should have done differently, and the answer is always the same: absolutely not! College has had its ups and downs but I’ve never regretted my time at Stevens. I decided to go here at 16 years old during a civil engineering pre-college program the summer before my senior year of high school. The decision was entirely practical. I wanted to be an engineer, I wanted to be near a city, and I wanted to stay in-state, so Stevens was the logical choice. Every time I’ve had to explain why I would make this choice over again, I’ve pointed back to the original reasoning I had nearly five years ago. And while I definitely still stand by my 16-year-old logic, it’s not the entire story.
Even after I made my choice, I still had my doubts about Stevens. I waited on scholarships, toured and applied to other schools, and obsessed over the statistics and career outcomes. A lot of the reasons that Stevens was my “dream school” didn’t even end up being true. My freshman year was eaten by COVID, completely altering my experience. I only considered schools with co-op programs because I was sure that was what I wanted, but I didn’t even apply to be a co-op student once I got here. I was also “early accepted” into the AMP program, which I thought was a big deal, but I’m not getting my masters at Stevens. I was even wrong about my core requirement of being near a city. I absolutely hate the city! Still, with everything I got wrong, I made the right choice.
I was asked this year what my favorite memory at Stevens has been, and I struggled to answer. There isn’t just one moment that comes to mind but a whole flood. I’ve had four years of favorite moments. I’ve met hundreds of people and learned so much. I didn’t know before college that your face could hurt from smiling too much, and now it happens on a weekly basis. I can’t say that everything has been perfect or that I’ve been perfect (or that my grades have been perfect), but it’s all been good, and I really like the person that I’ve become here.
Half of it is me, how hard I’ve worked and how much I’ve proven to myself. Stevens has given me chances to challenge myself and opportunities to grow. I probably could have found those things anywhere though. The other half of it is the people I’ve met. This school attracts very specific kinds of people (kids who cared about ROI statistics in high school). We’re nerdy, determined, and would rather take macroeconomics than philosophy 101 (at least the STEM majors). Other schools might have the same opportunities and resources as Stevens, and I would probably have been happy anywhere, but if I didn’t come to Stevens, I never would have met the people who are now a permanent part of my life. So yeah, I wouldn’t change that for the world.
