In the fall of my senior year of high school I came across an email in my inbox from my high school promoting free college application week. I clicked the link enclosed and found myself on CFNC.org looking at a list of private schools in North Carolina that offered Allied Health as a major. A few weeks later I received acceptance letters from all the schools I had applied to during free application week. As the weeks followed, I noticed one of those schools kept sending me mail and emails and calling my house. That school was Chowan University.
It all started with an offer for the Presidential Scholarship followed by “check ups” on how I was doing and how school was going for me. I received an invitation to attend Leadership Scholars Day where I would have the chance to interview for a $6,000 scholarship renewable for 4 years. I made my RSVP for the event thinking if I received this scholarship then the school I wanted to go to would offer me more money to be competitive, what I didn’t expect was to fall in love when I came to Chowan for my initial visit.
I arrived December 5, 2008. The weather was extremely cold and Murfreesboro appeared smaller than my town back home. Murfreesboro was everything I didn’t want (or so I thought it): a small town with cold weather that reminded me a lot of home. The Dean of Admissions, Chad Holt, changed my opinion of what I wanted about 15 minutes into my visit. Before I even introduced myself he came into Turner Auditorium, found me, and said, “Hi Miranda, I’m Chad Holt.” This impressed me, I hadn’t introduced myself and he already knew who I was, this showed me I wasn’t just an another application. I was not a number or file, but I was already a member of the Chowan family!
As Leadership Scholars day went on I found myself getting more and more comfortable at Chowan, with the atmosphere of Murfreesboro, and the Chowan family. I completed my interview and took a tour. My day ended after talking to a couple of Admissions counselors and grabbing my housing and medical forms. As my mom and I were leaving I told her that Chowan was where I saw myself continuing my education. My mother was shocked by the fact I changed my mind after one day. Chowan was the first and last campus I visited. A couple weeks later I received a call from my personal Admissions counselor, who told me I had received the Leadership Scholarship! I remember paying the advanced tuition deposit the very next day – it was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made for my future.
Miranda
Chowan University Class of 2012
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