Over four years ago, I remember writing my Yale application essays and scrutinizing every detail three or four times over. During my application cycle, I was challenged with identifying “Why Yale?” At that stage in my life, my answers to Why Yale? were as much about Why not Yale? as anything else. I say this because growing up on a family farm and attending a small public high school in rural Pennsylvania meant that I didn’t have a crystallized vision of what I was looking for in my college experience. In general, I knew I wanted a good education. I knew I wanted to meet people with a range of interests and from diverse backgrounds. I knew I wanted to grow as a young woman. Perhaps most importantly, I wanted something different from what I grew up with. And I wanted to do all of that with the most generous financial aid package I was offered. With those aims in mind, I opted to apply to several (borderline too many) colleges and universities of all different sizes, settings, and cultures.
So why Yale? In full transparency, I must confess that Handsome Dan – our live, bulldog mascot – as well as the folklore of Rory Gilmore’s life initially drew me to Yale. While I know those pieces of inspiration don’t set me apart from many applicants, they were still things I had carried with me for many years by the time I was filling out the application. When looking to fulfill the hopes I’d only loosely, Yale ticked many of the boxes: top-tier academics, diverse student body, plenty of extracurriculars, and in a small coastal city. As much as I wanted an environment rich with those qualities, I also wanted a place where I could imagine positively contributing to the on-campus community. Even then, I recognized that my rural background was one of my greatest character assets. Growing up as I did taught me earnest diligence and curiosity, which I knew would serve me well no matter where I ended up. But it wasn’t until I arrived in New Haven that I realized maintaining some connection to my rural background would be one of the things I needed most.
At the beginning of my second year, I encountered some growing pains. In a semi-post COVID-19 return to normalcy, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of full-fledged campus life. So, I started to search for an on-campus activity that would be a mellow change of pace, and I ended up finding the Rural Students Alliance at Yale (RSAY) – a social and cultural group for students from rural and small-town backgrounds. Through this group, I met a vibrant assortment of people who were as new to Yale and “city-living” as I was. Over time, involving myself with the RSAY’s student leadership team set me on a course that has continually steered me to engage thoughtfully with the rural and small-town communities on campus, at home, and in my studies. For this reason, if I was writing a “Why Yale?”or a “Why anywhere?” essay now, I know I’d search for an environment that would inspire me to be my most authentic, rural self. I’d want a place that would help cultivate my interests, embolden my tenacity, and think critically about the aspects most intrinsic to my identity. This place would need to be one where I’d not only want to maintain this inner dialogue but also share and develop it with others. For me, this place is Yale.
I served as the certified grillmaster for an RSAY community-building event this September. It was very fun, and the food wasn’t too bad either.
These reflections come to me as I prepare to serve as a Student Ambassador with the Undergraduate Admissions Office for a second year. The Ambassadors program provides current Yalies/ the opportunity to return to their local high schools during breaks and give presentations about Yale or the broader higher education experience to prospective students. These college visits are focused on serving the high schools – especially those in rural and small towns – that receive few (if any) visits from admissions officers around the country. As I make plans to contact local schools, I think about how valuable a visit like this would have been when I was in high school. Sure, it’s worthwhile to hear about the academics at Yale and the pizza in New Haven. But it’s the highlight of student voices that makes this program something I wish would’ve served my area when I was sophomore or junior. To hear from a current student that was familiar with my rural or small-town background would have calmed a lot of my doubts and concerns and empowered me to approach the college admissions process with more confidence. I also think I would have felt more knowledgeable about what Yale had to offer to me, and, in return, considered with more detail what I had to offer Yale.
In January, I visited my alma mater to talk about Yale, which was nostalgic and made me feel old.