St. John’s University has been my dream college ever since I was in middle school.

I had no real reason to attend the university besides the campus being beautiful and near Manhattan.

When it was time for me to graduate high school things didn’t go as planned.

Like most high school students, I did not take my grades seriously and did not get accepted to St. John’s which resulted in me attending the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Conn., for my freshman and sophomore year.

I enjoyed my time at UB and made plenty of friends but academically, they had nothing to offer.

When you begin your journey as a college student, the institution you attend reflects you as a student.

You want to attend a school you can benefit from in the long run, from career opportunities to alumni connections and most importantly the academics.

The University of Bridgeport is one of those schools you attend because your grades were subpar in high school, but you didn’t want to attend community college.

UB lacked resources that SJU possesses, such as internship opportunities.

I’ve already received two internships in Manhattan through Handshake and I am in my third semester here. Due to Bridgeport being a small, rural area, most of the professors did not have many connections in New York City.  

Due to this reason, I felt Bridgeport wasn’t offering me much besides an empty bed.

During my junior year at University of Bridgeport I decided that I wanted to end my journey with the school.

I did not want to continue spending thousands of dollars at a place where I was not gaining anything from it.

My GPA was above a 3.0 and I figured: why not apply to St. John’s once again?

Fortunately, I got accepted and I was truly proud of myself.

I entered as a junior in the fall of 2017 and my experience at St. John’s University has been remarkable so far.

Although there are students here who do not enjoy their experience, I am grateful to have a positive one.

I chose St. John’s University because of the environment and being native of Queens I wanted to be closer to home.

I knew that St. John’s being a well known institution would be beneficial once I graduated.

Whenever I tell people that I attend St. John’s University, they become overjoyed and impressed, I must say that getting that type of feedback is thrilling.

Getting to where I am now, being a student at the school I’ve wanted to attend to since I was in middle school is the best feeling ever.