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Have you ever thought about what you’d title your memoir if you wrote one? If so, can I borrow one of your ideas? Right now, I’m bouncing between “Faith Matson: How Did I End Up Here?” and “Faith Matson’s Guide to Getting a Bachelor’s Degree without Going to School.” 

I’m only kind of kidding about the second one. Obviously, I didn’t just weasel my way into my degree, and it’s definitely been a long road to get to the finish, but there is a small part of me that feels like I never even went to college. 

In 2018, I graduated from high school in suburban Colorado with plans to move to New York City and study musical theatre. What? Yes. And I did that. Later that year, I packed my bags and schlepped my way to the Big Apple to attend a somewhat prestigious performing arts school with dreams of making it big on Broadway. After a few months there, though, I realized two things: one, I loved New York, and two, I did not want to make my living as a performer. 

This was a tough pill to swallow. Up until that point, I had devoted my entire life to the performing arts. And I still loved to perform, but a theatre career just slowly stopped feeling right. So, I left just as I’d come: with three suitcases and a curiosity for what was next. 

After a lengthy transfer application process, I was accepted to Florida State University as an environmental science and policy major. (Looking back, I think I just chose the most opposite major to musical theatre that I could feasibly handle.) Included with my acceptance letter was an offer to spend my entire first year at FSU studying abroad in exchange for in-state tuition. Naturally, I accepted. 

I packed my bags yet again, this time moving to Valencia, Spain. As soon as I arrived, I knew I’d made the best decision of my life. When I wasn’t in class, I spent my days traveling Europe, eating amazing food and meeting some incredible people. It was there that I discovered my love for writing, realizing how perfectly it aligned with the passion for storytelling I had developed in musical theatre. I maintained a personal travel blog. I wrote and published a children’s book. After all of this, I finally gained enough courage to change my major to editing, writing and media. 

Then, in March of 2020, the world stopped. My dreamy, European bubble collapsed and I was forced to flee the country, my study abroad experience cut in half. I’m sure everyone can relate to how isolating this time was, and I felt no different. Taking classes online seemed daunting already, let alone with professors who were now on another continent. All I could hope for was a return of normalcy by the fall when I would start school in Tallahassee. 

But normalcy evaded, and I moved to Tallahassee to attend class from my living room. Moving somewhere new in the middle of a pandemic was scary, and I felt like I was completely untethered from the campus community. Until I started writing for the FSView, that is. 

Once I was hired on at the FSView, I finally felt like a real FSU student. I knew what was happening within the FSU community, I honed my writing skills and I developed my love for journalism. Our weekly meetings gave me something to look forward to, and I loved being able to interact with other human beings (even if it was only virtual). Without the FSView, I don’t think I would have the many amazing opportunities I have today, and I feel so lucky to be graduating with a network of exceptional writers and editors whom I’m sure I’ll run into in the future.

Here I am, graduating with a B.A. from FSU, having taken only one course on the Tallahassee campus, and I couldn’t possibly feel like I belong here more than I do now. The FSView undoubtedly saved my college experience when I needed it most, and for that I am eternally grateful. 

So, how did I end up here? I have no idea, but I’m sure glad I did. 

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