Spencer Hu
Shu2@uwyo.edu
Let me start by saying that I love UW and everything it has provided me by way of education and opportunity. That being said, there was a time where I was far from thrilled with the proposition of going to UW. That is to say that I wasn’t particularly fond of attending college in Wyoming at all, which was a feeling a shared with many (most, if not all) of my graduating class.
There was a time where I only saw myself attending a UC (University of California) and doing anything less was an indication of my failure. You can read what I assert in this article as my justification for me not making it to one of my preferred schools, but at this point it’s impossible for me to tell whether or not that’s the case.
I think there’s an unspoken (spoken) expectation that high school seniors in Wyoming attend an in state institution and, if I had any figures on this matter, it’s likely this expectation is completely founded. However, that’s not what I have an issue with. The issue is that the students who decide to attend in state institutions often do so with the undercurrent that their decision is motivated by practical concerns (money). They often do so with the undercurrent that if it were not for these concerns, they’d usually be above attending these institutions. Maybe that isn’t the case for everyone, but I know that was the case for me. After conceding to my attendance here at UW, anytime I was asked where I was attending I would always reply UW, but never without the added caveat.
“It’s just because it’s cheap, and I’ll probably just transfer out after a year or two.”
There was a part of me that was ashamed of attending UW considering that I was looked to as someone who was likely to go to a school outside of Wyoming based off of my trajectory in high school. I felt that people would think that I had failed to capitalize on my own potential. During my freshman year these were feelings that I had internalized.
Maybe the message I’m about to send misses the mark, but if you are currently an attendee here at the university and you feel that your attendance here is a signifier of your lesser value, don’t. I was certainly there at one time too. As my experience here fleshed out and I began to experience a breadth and depth of the talented people who are here, my feelings of regret faded. As I look at where I currently reside in my professional life, it is hard for me to picture that I would have done as well for myself elsewhere.
