Episode 92: Attending College Far From Home, Pt. 2

Episode 92 Transcript

• [0:00:06] BT: For some students, going off to college is a 30-minute drive through downtown traffic or a day of road tripping from one end of the state to the other.

  [0:00:14] BHA: But many will discover that their college home is a long way from their actual home. I'm Becca Haupt Aldridge from Bucknell University.

  [0:00:21] BT: I'm Brooke Thames, also from Bucknell. Today, on College Admissions Insider, we're learning what it's really like to attend a college far from home.

  [0:00:27] BHA: Our guests are two Bucknell University students with lots of experience, Clara Carroll and Terian Williams.

  [0:00:34] BT: Welcome to the podcast.

  [0:00:35] TW: Thank you.

  [0:00:36] CC: Hello.

  [0:00:36] TW: Glad to be here.

  [0:00:37] CC: Also, glad to be here.

  [0:00:39] BHA: So, why don't we start with some introductions? Clara, why don't you go first? Tell us your class year, what you're studying at Bucknell and where you call home.

  [0:00:47] CC: Hi, everyone. My name is Clara Carroll. I'm a senior studying chemistry and minoring in religious studies here at Bucknell. I'm originally from Sacramento, California.

  [0:00:57] TW: What's up, guys? My name is Terian Williams, a sociology major, minor in religion, and I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia.

  [0:01:05] BT: Awesome. We're so excited to have both of you here, both at Bucknell in Pennsylvania, and here on the podcast to talk about your experiences. So, Clara, you traveled across the country to attend Bucknell, but was branching out always your college plan? How did your college search start? And where along the line did leaving California become your direction?

  [0:01:23] CC: Yes. So, I definitely wasn't planning on leaving California originally. A lot of the colleges that I looked at were in California. California's huge, so it was all about there. But I sat down with my parents and we were looking at some colleges and my dad kind of mentioned Bucknell. He lived on the east coast for a while, and I had never heard of Bucknell, but I put it down. As I was researching colleges, I kind of fell in love with it and I was really interested in visiting, and looking more into it, and eventually applying. And then, once I got in and I was able to get the Presidential Fellows Scholarship here, which is a four-year merit scholarship that allowed me to do research right when starting. That was kind of the turning point in where I decided, I did want to go here and it was really that, as well as the small colleges and being able to talk with professors one-on-one and making those relationships that eventually made me decide to come up here.

  [0:02:22] BHA: Clara, you mentioned visiting as part of your process. Did you visit while you were a high school student kind of going through the application process and do you remember when you visited?

  [0:02:30] Chris Capurso: Yes. So, I actually ended up visiting after I got in. I did virtual visits online, and then, I came out here with my family when I was more serious about thinking about coming to Bucknell.

  [0:02:43] BHA: Awesome. That's super helpful for our listeners. Terian, your journey took you to the West Coast first, and then back to the East, here to Pennsylvania, to Bucknell. What drove you to go from Georgia to California to attend Stanford initially. Then, was it an exciting idea or were there hesitations when you made that move?

  [0:03:03] TW: I would say, it was never necessarily any worry in terms of like traveling across the country or if I was going to close or not. When I was coming out of high school, the first thoughts like early on was being close at home. But I knew in terms of like networking and expanding my range of possibility to meet people, it was going to take me to be able to like go across the country. So, being able to basically broaden my network from the East Coast to West Coast definitely was exciting, no hesitation to it. I was ready to branch out, and explore, and start basically that next chapter of my life.

  [0:03:35] BT: I'm curious about your experience as well, Terian, with visiting, especially going from Georgia to California, and then, maybe even from California here to Bucknell. Did a visit play a part in your decisions there?

  [0:03:46] TW: Definitely, yes. For both Stanford and Bucknell, when I visited Stanford, it was right after COVID, like kind of like was on the closing end of COVID. It was kind of like that final feature, basically. I had to see the campus in person. You go out there, see the campus on person, meet the people, definitely something that ends up making you want to basically commit to a school. Then, when I visited Bucknell, it was actually my first time seeing snow. There was a snow storm going. There's nobody on campus. It was like early January, like right after New Year's. It was my first time seeing snow. But being able to see like the campus and some of the new facilities that we're building up on the sports side was exciting. So, that's like another big reason that I ended up committing.

  [0:04:23] BT: Yes, I love that anecdote about that being your first time seeing, experiencing snow. There's so much about a new place that you might not think about or anticipate before you even go visit. But something that does tend to happen in every college journey is the conversation between a student and their family about where they're going to end up going to school. The final decision on where to attend is one that everyone should feel good about. So, Clara, when it came more clear that Bucknell was your top choice, was your family on board from the jump? Did you have to discuss what that distance would be like for all of you?

  [0:04:52] CC: It was definitely a discussion with my family. My mom came to the United States to go to college, and so, she was all on board with me traveling. She traveled from Hong Kong to the U.S. So, that was easy for my mom. My dad definitely would rather have had me stay in California, but we sat down, we talked about how often I'd come home, and how it'd be a great experience for me to be able to travel and gain more independence at Bucknell. As we chatted, it was more clear that Bucknell was the choice for me, and I would fit this college, and it was a place that I wanted to go. So, I think we all came to the group decision that this was the best place for me.

  [0:05:30] BHA: That's such a good reminder that a student and their family's lived experiences and own educational journey can really shape where a student ends up in their college decision process. So, what about Terian, were there topics that came up with your family when you considered Stanford alongside the sports opportunity?

  [0:05:47] TW: I would say, it wasn't much discussion, especially when Stanford entered the picture. I understand it was a prestigious school. I think it'd be more so just my mom worried about when she'd be able to come see me, when do we have off from football, how would I like get home on certain breaks, different things like that. So, it was like those discussions in terms of her missing me. But in terms of understanding the opportunity, education, and the chance to be able to broaden myself and explore was definitely was something that was off the bat. I was like, "Let's do it."

  [0:06:18] BT: Ultimately, you made your way back on the east side of the country here to Bucknell. Can you tell us a little bit more about what prompted that change?

  [0:06:26] TW: Yes. So, we ended up getting a new staff out at Stanford University, and I ended up entering the transfer portal, and ended up finding my way to Bucknell. The defensive coordinator here, Coach Bowers, ended up reaching out to me, basically wanting me to come out and check out the school, different things like that, and really just fell in love with the school. As soon as I got here, I saw the different things, going from east coast to west coast, back to east, northeast in particular, something definitely new but it's just another opportunity for me to start a new chapter in my life and broaden my network.

  [0:06:57] BHA: We've talked a lot about the decision to come to Bucknell, but now that you're both here, let's zoom in on what that means for being so far away from home and from your families. I want to talk about getting home. Some students can simply drive in a direction for a few hours and arrive there, but how do each of you handle breaks? What type of support have you found on campus for students that need to travel and what challenges have you encountered?

  [0:07:23] CC: I think traveling is a big part of your decision to move far away from home for college. For me, long breaks, I do go home, such as winter break, and sometimes, Thanksgiving break. That includes a flight or a couple flights. But Bucknell is great, that it provides shuttle programs to the airport, and so, I've taken advantage of those a couple times, as well as friends to get to the airport. For small breaks, I usually stay on campus, or I'm lucky enough to go to some of my friends' houses. I think, even though it's kind of sad not to be able to go home for those small breaks or for a weekend, it's nice to kind of build friendships with your friends and lean on them for those times. So, it's made me closer to some of my friends and getting a relationship with their families as well.

  [0:08:11] TW: I agree in terms of like, Bucknell has a shuttle service. So, in terms of reaching like to the airport or something, getting there is pretty much easy or even like friends, meeting different friends that drive on the way home or something, they can drop you off. So, that's been pretty nice. I'd say, being in Pennsylvania is easier than being in California. So, I'll go home for a weekend for sure. I went home, surprised my sister. She had an official visit somewhere and I came home for like a weekend to surprise her. So, being able to make that flight, it's like an hour and a half, two-hour flight, it's easier than a five-hour flight. It's been pretty nice. But even still, like if I don't necessarily don't want to take the time to travel, I have friends around that's like within like three-hour drives that it allows me to branch out to like, whether it's New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, kind of understand like the different things they do in their cultures, understand like their cities, their states. So, it's been pretty fun.

  [0:09:04] BT: Terian, it's great that you got to go home and surprise your sister over that weekend. I'm sure it's really wonderful to get to go back and kind of immerse yourself back in your family dynamic. But it's not every weekend. So, other times when homesickness creeps in, how do you stay connected to your families while you're at college and navigate those moments when you do miss home?

  [0:09:22] TW: I mean, yes, for one, I'm a mama's boy, so I call my mama like every day. But yeah, I mean, like some instances, even like Thanksgiving, something that – it's the first time this year I was able to go home for Thanksgiving, which was pretty nice. But even like some breaks in terms of, we had a spring game this past couple of weeks ago, like a lot of the guys around the area were able to go home. But I necessarily wasn't able to go home because our spring game was on like a Friday night. So, you're talking about, basically, I wouldn't make it out of here to like a Saturday morning, get back home around Saturday afternoon and come back Sunday morning. So, it was like, certain instances, I won't be able to go home. So, communication stays high, but the family does come out when they're able to. I'd say homesickness hits harder certain time of the year based off of how long I've been at school, but definitely keep up the communication in terms of like my family where there's like, iMessage, texting, FaceTimes, different things like that. I try to keep up communication with the family.

  [0:10:18] BT: What about you, Clara, being a little bit farther away?

  [0:10:20] CC: Yes, I definitely agree that homesickness kind of creeps in and out. Sometimes I'm fine and I love hanging out with my friends and being at Bucknell. I think, particularly, when other people's families come, like parents weekend, or some of my friends go home for the weekend, then I start getting homesick. But communication is key. I'm a big FaceTime user. I also call my mom like every day. So, just keeping up those relationships and being able to communicate over text or FaceTime is a great way. That also builds my friendships as well because I lean on them and they're kind of a family away from home too.

  [0:10:56] BHA: I feel like all of the moms of prospective students listening should play this episode for their students to say, "Look, see, you can call me every day." We've talked a lot about family as a source of community and about friendships on campus. How have you made friends here and been connected to students that are from your home state here at Bucknell?

  [0:11:15] CC: When I first came to Bucknell and I mentioned that I was from California, that was a big talking point. I would talk about my hometown, and just being far away, and getting to know Pennsylvania. I think majority of my friends now are actually not from California, but it's been a great source of the comparing differences and learning about their childhood and their culture here. I think regardless of what state or area they're from, it's been a great way to connect at a small university here at Bucknell, and I've made amazing friends through many different clubs and communities here.

  [0:11:48] TW: I would say for me, I've gotten close with a lot of the Atlanta guys, mainly on the football team. We've been able to connect on that level and even when we're home, it's somebody that I know that's back at school that I'm able to talk to while I'm at home. But in particular, I've actually gotten close with a lot of the Baltimore guys and the PG County guys. They like to pour their culture, and we get an argument about what city is better and stuff. So, we get into that, but I've definitely had a great time in terms of basically meeting friends and talking. I'm an extrovert, so that goes a long way. But even like introverts, I know like a lot of people are able to open up, especially when you like get in the classes, and then, you have classes that you have to do like group work or something like that. You end up coming out of your shell, especially being away from home. It's been pretty fun meeting different people from different cultures.

  [0:12:36] BT: Speaking of different people from different cultures, I'm interested in hearing more about your experience in Pennsylvania as a whole. Like Clara, I'm also from California and even though I experienced a lot of the rural areas between cities there, Pennsylvania is pretty different from where I came from. I still find myself surprised by the expressions that people use or the names of towns or the occasional Amish horse and buggy on the road. So, what have cultural differences been like for the both of you? How do you compare your experience living in Pennsylvania with your home cities? Are there pros and cons of attending a college in a place that might be different than what you're used to?

  [0:13:10] CC: I think it's so different from my hometown. When I first visited, I was like, Bucknell and Lewisburg look like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, and that kind of drew me in. One big difference is the weather. I also saw a snowfall for the first time here at Bucknell, which was really cool. There's a lot of farmland as well. I think like one difference is the food. There's a lot of diversity in food in California, and that's something that don't really get here. But also, I get to experience the local restaurants and kind of find my favorites here in Lewisburg.

  Also, another cultural difference is like little phrases that people say. I know my friends make fun of me a lot for things that I thought were totally normal, but apparently is something that's only said in California or pronounced in a different way. But it's kind of fun to connect over that and make fun of each other a little bit about the differences that we have in culture coming from across the country. But it's really grown my independence, I think, coming to Pennsylvania. I love traveling and seeing new places, and just seeing how other people live or their day to day, that's different than mine is really cool.

  [0:14:16] TW: I mean, I had to tag along with that weather. Like I said, the snow, I was not prepared for shoes. I messed up my UGGs. So, yes, the weather, I would say, having the snow was pretty cool, being able to play in that. Culture difference, definitely big difference from Atlanta to Pennsylvania, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. You don't really have like the city life, like it's like in Atlanta. The good thing is, there's less traffic up here. I love that. So, I can go to a restaurant without even setting a reservation really. Food difference, I do miss my soul food at times or that southern food. Apparently, I have an accent that I didn't even know a sound that goes out, like it's heavy. I didn't know that. A lot of the guys say that, my southern accent.

  But I'd say, jumping from Atlanta to West Coast and they coming back to the East Coast, I've seen different cultures and it's been pretty fun. I think it would help me down the line in life as I get to meet different people in like workspaces, understanding these cultures.

  [0:15:15] BHA: It sounds like for both of you, attending Bucknell or schools far away from home have been really positive experiences, but I'm sure that both were not without difficulties either. For our listeners, what would you encourage them to think carefully about when considering going far away from home for college?

  [0:15:33] CC: I think while going far away from home has been a huge blessing for me, and I've benefited greatly. One thing I had to sit down with my family before coming to Bucknell to talk about is finances. I think college in general, but moving far away for college can be a big financial burden. So, thinking about being able to afford those flights or long car drives, and even just thinking about small things that you may have to buy when you come over. For me, like a lot of household items, I couldn't bring from home like some of my friends do. So, just keeping that in mind and making sure I have the funds to support myself in that way. I definitely lean on my friends for some of those items.

  [0:16:12] TW: Yes, I would say finances for sure is one thing that you have to heavily have a discussion about, especially when you're talking about going from West Coast over to Pennsylvania, it's not like you can drive up your TVs, or microwaves, or the heavier, bigger items. So, those are things that you might have to buy at a store. Even like how much flights cost to go back home, how many times are you going to go back home? Different things like that, finances. I would say, finances is the biggest part.

  [0:16:38] BT: You've given our listeners a lot of details about your experiences, being at Bucknell, which is far from home. A lot of things to consider when they're looking at colleges. For those who may have not thought about traveling for school, let's round out our episode with some benefits of broadening the search radius.

  [0:16:53] CC: I think, while it can be a difficult decision, it's one of the best that I've made in my entire life. I think coming to Pennsylvania and just getting away from home has really kickstarted my journey as being an adult. I'm an introvert and I was pretty shy in high school. But making myself come over here allowed me to kind of redefine myself and start over. I think I've grown so much because of that decision and I've become so much more independent that I think has set me up for graduating Bucknell. So, I would highly recommend it and it was one of the greatest decisions that I've made for myself.

  Then, now, post grad, I'm going to move to London to pursue a master's in science communication, which is even farther away from home. But I think the growth and the independence that I've gained coming to Bucknell really enabled me to make that decision. Now, I feel comfortable and really excited to move out of the country. It's been a great decision to come to Bucknell that's helped me set me up for my future.

  [0:17:53] TW: I can't compete with London, I ain't going to lie. I would say that broadening the radius, I talked about this with the guys a couple of days ago, actually. I said, "Coming to Bucknell was like one of the best decisions I ever made." Like a year ago today, I didn't know would this decision be the correct one, basically, just letting God take me down my pathway. And then, a year ago from last year, I'd say it's one of the best decisions I ever made. The people I've met, the faculty and staff, athletics, alumni, the town itself. I've met a bunch of people that've been great on my journey.

  Then, I went further on to say that, broadening your search for school is hard to grow if you're still in the same community that you grew up in. Being able to step away from home is definitely important to help you grow and basically find yourself. It makes you make decisions that if you were back at home, you might rely on your parents or your close friends. But when you're able to go outside your comfort zone, you start to find yourself and start a new chapter in your life. I would say it's like scary at first, but then, you also have friends that are also trying to find their way. So, I would say, the best way for a student to find their way is to definitely broaden out their search and find somewhere new to basically go to school.

  
  [0:19:06] BHA: This episode was packed with wisdom from each of your reflections about your own journey, decisions that you've made, where they've led you, and where they will continue to lead you beyond Bucknell. I hope that our listeners can use some of these insights to shape their own college search as they consider where they might want to attend school. Thank you both for joining us.

  [0:19:26] CC: Thank you so much for having me.

  [0:19:28] TW: Thank you. I appreciate it. Come out to some football games.

  [0:19:31] BT: And thanks to everyone out there for listening. If you're a fan of the podcast, please take a moment to rate, subscribe, and share this episode with students and families in your life.

  [0:19:39] BHA: We'll be back with another new episode in a few weeks. In the meantime, send your questions, comments, and episode ideas to podcast@bucknell.edu. We read every note you send.

  [0:19:39] BT: Finally, you're invited to follow Bucknell on your favorite social media apps. Just look for @bucknellu on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok. You can also follow our student-run Instagram account, which is @iamraybucknell.

  [0:20:03] BHA: Until next time, keep reaching for your dreams and your dream school.

  [END]