num_pages: 180
description: Introduction from the Author Growing through my adolescent years on a small, secluded, rural island in Washington, I viewed college as an opportunity to escape, and venture as far away from home as possible and abandon everything familiar. Isn’t that what college is about? So when my parents suggested I apply to Whitman, I thought, "Yeah, right . . . like I’m gonna put out all that effort in applying to schools and taking these damn standardized tests just to go to Whitman in the same state!" Little did I know. As it turned out, Whitman was the first school I got into and the last school I ever expected I’d end up at. After all, it’s in Walla Walla—the home of wheat fields, the state penitentiary, pseudo-hicks, farm country, and good wine (if I was of age, I could actually drink it). But when I really sat down and thought about what makes me happy, what makes me truly happy in my education, Whitman fit everything I knew I wanted at that a place where excellence is expected academically and in lifestyle, but not without a sense of humor or at the expense of a social life; a place where professors genuinely care about students and their interests, but without pounding on professors’ office doors waiting in line for your 10 minutes of one-on-one time—a place where students are accepting of diverse and quirky interests, but not criticizing or judgmental; and perhaps, more important than all of these aspects, a place where the people make the school, where students are comfortable enough to be themselves, and are friendly and just plain happy, where students feel special and motivated by their own impulse and know they have something to contribute, and that they should. Though Whitman has been a great place for myself and most of the students I’ve talked to, it certainly doesn’t fit everyone. Ultimately, my hope is that you, a prospective college student, will not merely consider the exterior glamour of statistics and colorful brochures of schools you research on your quest for "the perfect school." Here’s a news the "perfect school" doesn’t exist! What is possible and, perhaps, more important, is to look inside and ask what makes me happy? What will I need for the next four years of my life, and does this school offer it? Trust your gut; you might end up in the last place you thought you would. Carly N. Sanders, AuthorWhitman College
language: English
title: Whitman College 2007
titlecomplete: Whitman College 2007 (College Prowler)
ratings_count: 1
publisher: College Prowler