Stubbornness

 Most people laugh when I say that I enrolled at PUC because an admissions advisors gave me a Starbucks. But my choice, more than luck and persuasion, was due to my stubbornness.

As an immigrant, with no relatives in this country besides my parents and younger brother, I had decided I wanted to go to a school close to home for college. In my case that would have been Walla Walla University, just about four hours away from Portland, I would be able to visit my parents anytime if I were to enroll there. I had applied and visited the school multiple times, I was pretty much just waiting for my high school graduation, and my parents were thrilled to be able to visit me during the weekends once I went away for college.

I decided to ask for advice to a family friend, someone who received my family with open arms when we moved to this country, about different colleges since his daughter attended WWU. He started to tell me I HAD to enroll to WWU. His way of "persuading" me into enrolling to the school didn't feel like advice or guidance but rather felt as if he was ordering me to enroll to the school. Every single time the topic about college came up he would be more persisting on what school I had to enroll to and would be visually upset if I told him I wasn't completely sure about enrolling to WWU.

Unfortunately, my parents aren't fluent in English and didn't quite understand what the family friend was telling me to do, but I promptly translated what he was telling me to do and how uncomfortable he was making me feel. More than uncomfortable, he was making me upset. My own father wasn't forcing me to attend any school in particular, but this random man felt like he had a saying in my life choices? His poor soul had never meet a Colombian woman.

One evening I received a phone call from a PUC advisor, she wanted to meet with me to follow up my school application, which seemed strange since I didn't remember applying for this school. I was still mad at the family friend because of his rude behavior so I meet with the PUC advisor. Apparently, the summer after my sophomore year in high school I had meet with her and applied to the school after she bought me a Starbucks drink (something I would have definitely done), and she wanted to know whether I was still considering PUC for college. 

I still don't know if it was out of spite or because of the scholarships I received from PUC but I made up my mind I would attend this school. My parents were sad that I would be far away from home but were happy I had chosen a school I liked. I was also concerned about diversity, and PUC could offer that.

The family friend had invited my family for lunch after church service, and I decided that it would be the perfect moment to break the news for him. Hell broke down in that house, but I didn't care, neither did my parents. My dad knew that even though I wanted to be close home I would not let anyone force me to do something I didn't feel comfortable doing, my mom was proud that I didn't let that man disrespect me and my life choices. It is needless to say that my family isn't close to his family anymore.

Anyone could argue that I enrolled to PUC because of a free Starbucks and my stubbornness, and it is mostly true. Just to be clear, I have nothing against WWU, but here I have made priceless friendships and have grown a lot as a person. Stubbornness can be a good thing sometimes. 

Anna <3