I Guess I’m Going to Temple

By Samantha Stewart

It’s your senior year of high school. Your spring stress is at its peak and college application season has come and gone. Every day since has been the same: compulsively checking emails day in and day out to see where your future lies. Your heart beats every time you feel a buzz in your pocket. Is this it? Is this my dream school?

And then, finally, the day comes. Your coveted Ivy League or dreamy, private California coastal school has gotten back to you—but not with good news.

Temple has become a haven for over 40,000 students on Main Campus. Sitting in the City of Brotherly Love, the urban campus is a wide new world for plenty of students, even drawing large crowds from abroad. But Temple, with its broad array of opportunities and a diverse collection of students, isn’t everyone’s first choice when applying for colleges.

Blake Nutis, a sophomore journalism and political science double major, never saw herself coming to Temple during her high school career. She abhorred the very idea.

“My top three schools were Colombia, NYU, and Brown, and I got either denied or waitlisted from all of them,” Nutis said. “When I realized I wouldn’t be going to any of those schools and I was accepting my safety, I thought, ‘What was the point of all that work just to come here?’”

When Nutis considered Temple, she detested the many familiar faces from high school, the low SAT score average, and the overall high acceptance rate. It wasn’t the push she wanted from higher education.

“I wanted to be one of those kids who went out there, did something big and different,” Nutis said. “I didn’t want to be lumped into that group who just went to Temple.”

Keeghan McLane, a sophomore psychology major, had many of the same hesitations when looking at Temple. Or rather than looking, she really meant glancing over. Before she stopped to smell the roses (or lack thereof) on campus, she skimmed right by them.

“I was being kind of ignorant. I was looking at all of these high acceptance rate schools when Temple had everything I wanted,” said McLane. “It was actually a relief when I knew I was coming here. Haverford College was too small, and Temple felt right.”

Temple has a great research program—just as good, if not better than some of the other schools she had set her hopes on. What really spoke to McLane, though, was the money.

“Temple is so much cheaper than anywhere else I looked at,” she said. “Going here is leaving me without debt. And none of the other schools offered me any real money to go.”

Though McLane and Nutis held strong reservations at first, they both feel so lucky to be here now. No regrets. No second-guessing. No doubts that Temple is where they needed to be.

“I can’t see myself anywhere else now,” McLane said. “I’ve found a home here”.

But not everyone sees Temple as a fit. Some students, like Julia Albertson, a sophomore environmental studies major, never lost that feeling of regret upon their move-in day, after their first semester, or even well into their second year.

Albertson’s application process was different than most. Many prospective students had their hearts set on schools big and far away. However, due to some limitations set by her parents, she could only look so far. Albertson thinks she would have loved the University of Vermont, out in nature and somewhere new. Instead, her search was more restricted: local schools in or near South Jersey.

“I kind of regret not pushing myself further when I was applying,” Albertson said. “Not to be arrogant, but I knew I would get into Temple. I wasn’t excited or anything.”

It’s no secret: Temple is known as a party school. It’s not uncommon to hear the wild laughter of students wandering the dorm halls or down Broad Street on a Friday night. But the party scene isn’t for all of us.

Albertson has battled feelings of isolation during her time at Temple. Not into the late-night scene, she didn’t feel like she had a way to connect with a majority of her party-indulging peers.

Instead, she has found her friends in odd places: on Tinder, in classes, or by happenstance. And through these connections, she has found a solid group for herself.

Even though she’s found her crew, she still often ponders leaving Temple for one of those schools she dreamed of before—envying the atmosphere of the University of Vermont or the University of New Mexico for the quieter surroundings and rural scenery.

“It’s a privilege I even get to go here, and I know that,” Albertson said. “But I just feel like I could be somewhere else, and I want to push myself.”

Albertson doesn’t regret her time at Temple. The friends she’s made, experiences she’s had, and some of the adventures she’s lived through are irreplaceable—even if there are other opportunities for her on the horizon.

It’s no question Temple University is dedicated to seeing their owls fly. Yet even still, not everyone has found their “nest” here. The takeaway, however, is this: we mold our own experiences.

We control how we live our lives, even in imperfect situations, much like Albertson has done. She has taken the beautiful and irreplaceable parts of her time at Temple—her friends, her experiences, her growth—and coveted them, cherished them.

Though Temple may not be the Ivy you dreamed of or the rigorous private school you wanted, there is always a community to be found here. There will always be a home for you at Temple.

Cover image courtesy of Temple University