Some brilliant advice from my "coach"

In the past couple of posts, I wanted to give you an extremely basic understanding of me and my life. From my mascot gig to my lazy Memorial Day Weekend and back, my lifestyle is now an open book. But there are still a few pieces missing, namely me and my Metro "relationship" (i.e. what Metro has done for me, how my experiences here have made me the woman I am today, usw.). Let's see.... Where to begin?
On a lovely June evening long ago, my mother gave birth to a beautiful, screaming baby which she named Amber. Oops- that was probably too far back. Fast forward through high school. At the beginning of my senior year, I like many other soon-to-be high school graduates had absolutely NO IDEA which college/university I wanted to attend nor did I really know how to pick a place to enroll in.
Enter Miriam from Metro State's Admissions Office (yes, I did remember who came to my school and no, I'm not lying or joking). It isn't so much that I wanted to attend Metro for any of the reasons I could pick now: 1) Close to my house; 2) Cheap (affordable if you want a nicer way of saying that I wouldn't have to sell my little sister to get a bachelor's); 3) Diverse student population; or 4) Fantastic sports teams.
Honestly? The real reason why I attended the information session about Metro State was to get out of a boring lecture from my Yearbook advisor. This woman could take a 5 minute conversation and somehow stretch it into a 45 minute lecture. Which is why, when I heard I could get excused from class and ask some questions about the College, I jumped at the chance.
So I went and heard many wonderful things about Metro. I applied right then and thought "okay, at least if I can't pick a school, I can go there."
In high school, I was very involved: choir, African-American club, ski/snowboard club (still can't snowboard though), newspaper, yearbook, German club, and of course sports. I played basketball and volleyball and was a soccer manager only because I didn't know a thing about soccer (still don't now, come to think of it). How did I pick my colleges to talk to and visit? On basis of their needs for their basketball or volleyball teams.
This is how, on a cold February day, I found myself in Hastings, Nebraska speaking with the basketball and volleyball coach. Even though Hastings College was in the NAIA division and had never asked for a tape of me playing, I thought "I could get out of Denver, live on my own and experience dorm life while studying the major of my choice (sports psychology)". Wrong. It was cold, windy and the town was set-up like Greeley: about five miles from a stinky farm. Even though I was receiving a scholarship to play both of my sports, I still would have had to take out $14,000 in loans just to cover my tuition for that first year! Needless to say, I didn't mind that much when my mom refused to sign my paperwork while I was in Germany, on a study abroad trip.
Onto my second choice: Baker University in Kansas. Baker offered me a vice president's scholarship (valued at $3000) but their tuition was incredibly high, especially since I was an out-of-state student. Hastings was a better choice because at least I had family in Nebraska.
So, what's a girl to do when her two top choices don't pan out? You remember about that unknown college in your backyard that you applied to so long ago.
More to follow...