![The College that Never Was [Oh, It’s Tuesday]](https://fierceandnerdy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/4936134-Middlebury_Vermont_Middlebury.jpg)
The College that Never Was [Oh, It’s Tuesday]
We’re about to start submitting my second novel, THE AWESOME GIRL’S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN, which is about three women who attended my alma mater (Smith). This means 2 things. 1) I can finally read COMMENCEMENT by J. Courtney Sullivan (which is about white Smithies), without fear of influence and 2) I’ve been thinking a lot about the colleges I didn’t attend.
I’ve no regrets about attending Smith, which was my first choice going into the college selection process, but Middlebury, a small liberal arts college in Vermont, was a rather close second on my list, and I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I’d gone there. I still believe that I’d be a writer, but maybe I’d be a different kind of writer. Or maybe I’d still be living abroad, given Middlebury’s reputation for language and international study. There’s a chance that I might have stayed on the East Coast, or gone into academia. I might have ended up way more crunchy and granola than I am now.Who knows … but it is nice to wonder.
Do you also have a college that got away? How do you think your life would have differed if you’d attended that college? Have you ever met anyone from that college — what’s funny is that I’ve yet to meet a Middlebury alum, which makes me think that I definitely wouldn’t have been this me if I’d gone to that college.
mine is also middlebury (!) which was actually my first choice. I applied early, was deffered, and then was wait-listed during the regular admission process. At that point, I was ready to reject them, because that is a really awful thing to do to an adolescent. Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t go there, as it would have made bad choices much easier than they were at Smith, I would’ve been depressed by the snow, I wouldn’t have the amazing female friends/family I have, and probably would not be married to my life’s love.
on a waaaay more interesting subject, I CANNOT WAIT to read your next book!
Thanks so much, Julia. I totally agree with you. I think I might have made some bad choices and weirdly, not taken as many chances if I’d gone to Middlebury as opposed to Smith. It felt like I could do anything at the college I chose — everyone was always so encouraging. Whereas at a co-ed college, I probably would have been second-guessing myself out of a lot of adventures. But that’s so cool that we have the same college that got away!
I can totally relate. My school is Brown. I was accepted and even attended a summer program designed to help students of color get acclimated to campus, however I ultimately decided to not attend college that year. I ended up enrolling at the University of Maryland one year later. One never really knows how things would be different but I suspect that although my journey may have been slightly different, the destination remains the same :)
Oh, I didn’t apply to Brown, but I heavily considered doing so. What’s funny is that our president eventually became their president. But I so agree about the destination — though, it’s doubtful that I’d have met my husband if I’d gone another path.
I attended freshman year at Mt. Holyoke ( hello Smith neighbor!). Beautiful campus, beautiful people, great academics, but I had done the predominantly white elite school thing before and I needed a change of pace (not to mention the weather challenges!) I miss the female friendships I made there and if I had stayed, I would have closer female friends, but the path I chose led to me grad school and meeting my husband. Ya win some, ya lose some :)
That’s what I miss the most, too, about going to an all-women’s college.