When talking to a group of students, the word “College” can send any of them into an immediate frenzy of tears and hair pulling. Or at least that was true for me. My least favorite question, which was unavoidable at any family function and even in class, was “What are your plans for after high school?” It seemed as though this question would be the only thing I would hear for my entire senior year. My advisor would be starting class, and all I could hear were the haunting whispers of “college” “graduation” “make big decisions”, I mean, all she really said was ‘Hello,” but that’s not what I heard.

This huge decision led to many nights of sitting at the kitchen table with my parents - them asking me questions to try and get some ideas, which only ended with tears streaming down my face, and me slamming my bedroom door. It wasn’t until I remembered a field trip I had taken my Junior year that I finally realized my passion. We took a trip to Madison and visited UW-Madison, Madison Media Institute, and Edgewood College, but the one that really stood out to me was MMI. I remembered walking through the doors and being blown away. It was at that moment that I had figured out what it was that I wanted to go to college for.

Recently our Juniors and Seniors went to a college fair at Lakeland and I discovered that there were more colleges than just MMI that had a Major in Film. It was because of this trip, a lot of research, and thinking, I realized that MMI was not the school for me. But now I had more options. I discovered that UW-Milwaukee had the 3rd best Experimental Film Program in the world, and I was able to join a freshman field trip to see the school and the Peck School of the Arts and I fell in love. I was also very comfortable with researching schools, and when I came across The Art Institute of Wisconsin I was able to tour the campus. I can honestly say that if we had not taken these trips to colleges, I would not know what I wanted to go to college for, and I would have no idea where to start looking for colleges that have majors in my field. These trips have inspired me to follow my dream and to know that there are more than just one option.