Why UD?

Over a span of roughly 3 years, my family and I managed to tour nearly fifteen universities. We toured schools in Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, Tennessee, Missouri, Ohio, and probably additional states that I cannot even remember. At first, I was simply tagging along on the tours my older brother was taking. But, of course, as time went on the tours were for me. It was my turn to decide where I wanted to go to college. For awhile, it felt as though I would never come to a decision. I had extremely high expectations for every single campus that I stepped foot on. There was always something I did not like about the school: the campus wasn’t pretty enough, the students didn’t come across as particularly friendly, the school’s pre-law program was unimpressive, the school was too close to home, the school did not have a sense of community, you name it. At every school I toured, there was always one important thing missing. Then, in the fall of my senior year, after touring Butler (for the fourth time), my dad decided we would take a detour to the University of Dayton. It was during Labor Day weekend, and the campus was nearly empty. I vividly remember walking past the chapel and being amazed with how beautiful the campus was. However, it would not be another six months until I was able to officially tour Dayton. It was March, and I still felt hopeless in my college selection process. I did not think I would ever find the perfect college for me and I pictured myself having to settle for a school that I thought was just okay. However, on the tour of Dayton, I almost immediately realized how much I loved it here. The campus was as pretty as I remembered it, the students who passed by were so friendly, the pre-law program blew me away. Despite all this, I was still terrified to make such a huge decision. How could I be sure? I never had to make such an important decision before. In the end, I decided to pray about it. Now, I wasn’t expecting God to shout down from heaven and tell me where He thought I should go to college, but I figured that since it was March of my senior year, I could use all the help I could get. And then, almost immediately, I received numerous signs telling me that Dayton was the right choice. First, I noticed the pre-law department is located in St. Joseph’s Hall, and my high school was named St. Joseph’s Academy. Next, I realized the chapel at Dayton is called Immaculate Conception, and my parish back home is also Immaculate Conception. And top this off, as I was putting these two things together in my head while walking to lunch with my friends, I turned my right and saw a car with a University of Dayton sticker on the bumper. Now, call my crazy, but I would say that these three things were definitely the signs I was asking for. I realized that Dayton checked met every one of my requirements, and I decided that it was finally time to take the leap and declare where I wanted to go to college. Today, I am so grateful for taking the leap that landed me at the University of Dayton.