My Transy Story

Well it is blogging time again. As you know (at least if you are a regular reader) I have only been back on campus for about three days. I have been to all my classes, and I am really excited about how this semester seems to be turning out. Anyway, nothing 'big' has happened in my few days back so I decided to post a blog that I have been sitting on for a while. It is my own Transy story detailing why I chose to call Transy my college home. It is a bit lengthy, so get comfy!

I started my college search the summer before my senior year. I also ended my college search the summer before my senior year, or so I thought. For as long as I could remember I wanted to attend the University of Kentucky. My career plans may have changed while growing up, but the college never did. Yes, I had thought about Transy, I had even applied. I had never given it much serious thought, though- I mean the tuition/housing bill seemed a bit steep for my family's budget. So after my first campus tour at UK I bought the shirt, hoody, lanyard and wall art. I applied as soon as the applications opened up, and received an acceptance letter two weeks later. In my mind, at the time, the college search was already over.

Sometime in the middle of October all the seniors at my school went on a field trip to a College Fair hosted by a college close to my hometown. I was somewhat less than enthusiastic about going. I mean, I knew that I was going to UK. Nonetheless, it was a day out of school. That morning I put on a UK shirt (hoping to detract determined people from trying to persuade me) and headed out. I should mention two of my closest friends also knew they were going to UK (of the three of us, only one is still headed towards the Big Blue). So the three of us just found a place to talk and ignored all of the college booths. Our guidance counselor saw us and insisted we give it a chance. I had always had Transy as a thought in the back of my head, so I decided to go towards that booth. I have never liked talking to admissions counselors before (Even the UK ones. I hated how they all said “So, do you have any questions?” I wanted to scream every time I heard that) so I was somewhat dreading starting a conversation with another one. I got to the Transy booth, introduced myself, and waited for the dreaded question. It didn’t come. My admissions counselor, Megan Tolley, did not start our first conversation with: “So, do you have any questions?” Instead she complimented my shirt (she was a UK alumnus). I told her that I was basically committed to UK, but had applied and thought about Transy- the cost always holding me from exploring the option further. She explained that Transy has a great financial aid program and that most Transy students end up paying about the same, out of pocket, as UK
students. That surprised me. At this point another crowd of students wanted her attention so I dismissed myself. As I was going she gave me her card.

It was December when Transy entered my mind again. I was home from school (One of many Snow Days my senior year). I went to check the mail and inside was my Transy acceptance letter. Surprising even to myself, I was ecstatic. I felt I had really accomplished something. My parents were very excited as well. I called my dad, who is a teacher at a high school in the neighboring county, to tell him the news; he was so excited he announced my acceptance to his entire class. After the initial excitement, I decided I was going to give Transy a chance and research it a bit further. I mean, it was the least I could do, right?

I should mention, at this point I was a little bit annoyed with UK. The second I was accepted was the moment, I felt, they forgot about me. After acceptance into UK I never heard from them again. No emails, no phone calls, no letters. I even emailed someone once with a question and never received a response. So I was a little more open to Transy than I would have been two months ago. The first step of my research was to email my admissions counselor, Megan Tolley. I remembered that she had graduated from UK, and I knew that she would be able to tell me a lot about both universities. While waiting for a response (which, might I add, took less than a day) I perused the Transy website. I found it to be a very good source of info. A few hours letter Megan’s response came- I found it amazing. It was a long email detailing the main differences between Transy and UK. This was the first of many emails back-and-forth between Megan (side note: I never knew what to call her: Ms. Tolley, Megan, Ms. Megan?!?) and myself. She even took time during her Christmas break to email me. In the end, it was the personal attention I got from her that influenced my decision to attend Transy the most. I couldn’t even tell you the name of my admissions counselor at UK and here I was receiving friendly emails from Megan on an almost daily basis.

When it came time for me to tour Transy I was already pretty confident in my decision to attend, not UK, but Transylvania University. The tour itself sealed the deal. I was allowed to sit in on classes, I talked to the head of financial aid and I took in the aesthetic beauty that was Transy’s campus. I felt at home. Maybe it was the classical look that appealed to the inner part of me that secretly wished I was attending Hogwarts (yeah, when I said I liked Harry Potter I barely covered it… it is an obsession), but seeing the buildings on Transy’s campus made me feel like I just arrived home after a long trip. After my tour was over I bought the Transy shirt, hoody, lanyard, wall art and, as an act of immense symbolism, threw the UK lanyard attached to my keys in the trash of the men’s restroom.

So there you go. That is my story of how Transylvania University “found me.” Sorry for the length, in revision I tried to shorten it, but I found nothing that was unimportant enough to be omitted.

-Jake Ryan


(Quick P.S. I seriously debated including UK in this blog. I in no way want you to think I dislike that college. It is a great school, and an awesome neighbor to Transy. Both UK and Transy offer very different college settings and to say I chose one over the other does not mean UK in anyway inferior. It simply means that for my tastes, needs, and desires in a College Transy was more suitable. You have to decide the same thing for yourself)