Why Bishop’s?
It’s the first question I’m always asked–when I meet new people, at home, at work, and in my everyday life.
When people ask me why I chose Bishop’s University, I used to say it was the most logical choice. Now, I know it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
The overwhelming search for a university
During my junior year of high school, I felt completely overwhelmed when our college counselor first brought up the idea of choosing a university. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life or where I wanted to go. Whenever someone asked me, I would panic internally. My peers seemed ahead of the game—they had toured schools, written essays, and created lists of potential universities. Meanwhile, I had only attended my mandatory meeting with the counselor and briefly entertained the idea of a big school in the city.
A visit that redefined my priorities
The first school I toured was Boston University. I happened to be in the area, and my mom urged me to sign up for a tour. That visit was a turning point. I realized that everything I thought I wanted in a school was, in fact, the opposite. I disliked the idea of a campus spread throughout the city, lacking a strong sense of community. At least now I knew what I didn’t want, which was a step in the right direction.
Discovering Canadian universities
One night, my mom received an email about a Canadian university fair at my high school. She suggested that I look into Canadian schools because of my citizenship. As a French citizen, from France, Quebec allowed me to pay an out-of-province tuition rate, which was significantly lower than out-of-state tuition rates in the U.S. Since I wasn’t a stellar athlete who could count on a scholarship, this was a major advantage. She insisted we check out the fair, and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it.
The more I spoke with recruiters, the clearer my vision became. Bishop’s was the last table I visited, and the recruiter was from my area. That gave me a sense of comfort and showed me that students from the U.S. also came to Bishops. He was engaging, funny, and persuasive enough to make me take a closer look at Bishop’s.
The road to Bishop’s
After the fair, I brought home a stack of university pamphlets, which I promptly shoved in a bag and hid away in my closet. My mom kept pushing me to research the schools and set up tours, but I procrastinated until mid-summer before my senior year.
When September of my senior year rolled around, I knew I was in trouble. A lot of my other friends had toured several other universities and somewhat knew where they were headed, while I still had no clue. Everyone’s main topic of conversation was, “Where do you want to go, and what do you want to study?” This overwhelmed me, because I knew there was no escaping the fact that at some point, I needed to choose where I was heading after graduation.
Finally, my mom and I started researching the universities I had shoved in my closet months earlier. We planned several different trips to go visit the schools that interested me, one of which was Bishops. We planned to attend the Bishop’s Open House in October which ended up being one of the best decisions.
Falling in love with Bishop’s
The moment I stepped onto campus, I felt a little lost, but we quickly found our way to the sports complex, where we were greeted by a sea of purple. I had engaging conversations with staff, professors, and students, all of which put me at ease. I started falling in love with the campus, the people, and the culture of Bishop’s. Later that evening, I received my acceptance letter. Holding it in my hands on the drive home, I finally felt relieved: “I have somewhere to go.”
Trusting my instincts
Over the next month, I toured other schools in Quebec, but at each one, I found myself comparing every little detail to Bishop’s. The surroundings, the people, even the culture seemed more appealing at Bishops and nothing else measured up. I ended up applying to only one other school, McGill, but I never fully completed the application because, deep down, I knew Bishop’s was the right choice for me.
Since arriving, I’ve fallen more and more in love with the community, the campus, and the culture. If it weren’t for my mom, who knows where I would have ended up?
My advice for choosing a university
My biggest piece of advice when it comes to choosing a university is to tour the campus! You can research all you want, but you won’t truly understand a school’s atmosphere until you experience it in person.
