Article Written by Morgan Boyd
June 6th is National Higher Education Day. This day is an event to celebrate and encourage accessibility to higher education. This day also serves as an initiative to raise money for scholarships and to encourage college students to apply to these scholarships. As a college student I wanted to share my experience with higher education and encourage those who are considering applying to further their education. I have always been the type of person that does only what is comfortable. I never liked to step out of line or do anything that was out of my comfort zone. I think that is why my family was so surprised when I began to look at schools far away from home. I had a lot of anxiety about leaving home because it was what I had grown comfortable with for 18 years. It felt like I was having to start over and knowing that I would have to work to make new friends and it would be a strange adjustment scared me. At the same time I knew that if I never did something that scared me I would be in the same place for the rest of my life.
When I chose the University of Kentucky I had no idea the impact that it would have on my life. I was forced to become a social person after years of being an introvert and just being a background character. Through the events that UK puts on the week before school starts (also known as K Week) I was able to reach out to different organizations and meet different types of people.
I have learned so much about myself in the past 3 years and I have loved getting to grow and change and I can only credit myself for taking the leap and deciding to do something terrifying. UK is such a fantastic school and I do not believe that I would have the same college experience anywhere else. Even if UK or any Kentucky school is for you I would highly encourage researching that one school that you have been on the fence about. Coming from someone who was doubtful about taking any type of risk, I am so glad that I did. I also encourage everyone to celebrate National Higher Education by sharing with others the positive impact that higher education has had on your life and hopefully encourage others to further their education.