Being Out of State at ECU

Five hundred and seventy four miles. That’s how many miles away from home I am. In the winter of 2014 I made the decision that I was going to take a leap of faith, pack my bags and attend East Carolina University. It turned out to be the best decision of my life.

When I toured ECU I fell in love with everything about it. I loved the beautiful campus, the friendly people and the atmosphere that this school had. I can remember the exact moment that I looked at my mom and told her that I had found the school for me. Looking back, I thought I could not love ECU any more than I did in that moment, but throughout my three years here so far I have fallen more in love with this place everyday.

There are not many places that can make every person feel included and at home, but East Carolina can. I can’t pick out the exact moment when East Carolina truly became my home but it was somewhere between the first football game where I was engulfed in the sea of purple and gold and really saw what it was like to be a Pirate or when I was going through a rough time and I realized that I had made friends here who were going to stick with me through everything.

Being a student at East Carolina was when I realized that I was free to be myself and this place was going to accept me for who I was and help me to grow into the best possible version of myself. There was no perfect mold that East Carolina expected me to fit, all that mattered was that like everyone else around me, I was a Pirate and all Pirates are family.

As an out of state student I was welcomed into Pirate Nation with open arms. I was over 500 miles from where I grew up but I felt like I was at home. Here at East Carolina I learned that it doesn’t matter where you’re from or how popular you were in high school. It matters how you treat others and how you bring your own qualities to Pirate Nation to help make it the welcoming, diverse, and incredible place that is.

So my advice to you, don’t let the distance scare you. Don’t be afraid of new beginnings or change. East Carolina will give you more than you could ever imagine. It will be your home away from home.