<p>Hello, my name is Amy, I am 19 and a week ago I got home after spending two months in Ghana, and now it’s time for me to go to college.</p>
<p>I took a gap year and went to community college in the fall, worked a lot, and then went to Africa. It was an incredible experience. My senior year I applied to four SUNYs (Oswego, Oneonta, Binghamton, New Paltz) and Ithaca. I got into all except Bing; I got waitlisted. I accepted at Oneonta but then was like oh no I’d rather go to Africa, so I contacted them and said I wanted to defer, and they I wasn’t allowed to defer and put me through as a transfer instead. I was supposed to send them a letter, detailing what I would do in my year off, but then money woes hit and I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay in community college for another year, as it was a lot cheaper, so I never contacted them.</p>
<p>I was supposed to get home from Africa in March/April, but I sent in my passport to get my visa and they lost it, so my trip got delayed two months. I also got sick at the end of my trip, and was too sick to fly, so as it is I’ve been home a week and I want to go away to school and now I feel like I know what I want to do. Oneonta sent me a letter saying that my application was incomplete, so I had been removed from some list, and if I was still interested in going there I should contact them asap. Tried calling them on Friday but I couldn’t reach them. I’ll try tomorrow (Monday; almost today). </p>
<p>I want to study psychology because I want to work with autistic kids. I’m very good with special needs kids, and I want to get the best possible psychology education that I can because I really have a gift and I don’t want to waste it. Travel, however, is also incredibly important to me, so I want to go to a school with good study abroad and travel programs and such. I feel like I would do best at a school like that because I think I would relate best to kids who are also very interested in traveling. I went to Africa, and in most ways I’m still just a normal 19-year-old, but a trip like that will also change you. I want to be around kids who I can relate to. And I REALLY want to travel. It’s a priority of mine. </p>
<p>Money is an issue. We can’t really afford anything more than a state school, and, again, I want to have money to put toward traveling. I stayed at home and worked my butt off to get to Africa and I did it all by myself, but now I have to split my money between paying for school and traveling. We have a college fund but it’s small. My dad just retired so that should up the aid we get. My grades are good but not great. I want to do better. I really want to get SERIOUS about school. I think I have ADD so I’m going to get tested for that. I’m a smart girl but I can’t focus on certain things for the life of me, and that has made school difficult. I want to do better.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether I should just commit to Oneonta, or whether I should expand my horizons a bit and look elsewhere. Are there any other schools that are good for a girl who just got home from Africa, who wants to work with autistic kids, and who really, really wants to travel?</p>
<p>Also, if I have ADD, and if I get medication, my grades should really go up. I feel more serious about school and if I combine that with medicine and some site-blocking I feel like I can do a lot better, which means I can apply to better schools, get better aid and scholarships, and get better travel opportunities. I’m thinking of going to CC this fall just to get all my **** together, but alas, I’m unsure. Right now I have 10 credits, and my GPA in community college was 2.9 (in my defense, I took Calculus and did better than most kids with my C). If I take a class over the summer I can get up to 13 credits, get the GPA over 3.0, and expand my opportunities a lot.</p>
<p>I really want to go away in the fall. Should I commit to Oneonta or look elsewhere, and if I should look elsewhere, where should I look?</p>