Long Journey to College, but I Was Never Alone

Sush Krishnamoorthy, a student from New Delhi, is part of “The Choice” class that includes student-bloggers from Nairobi, Kenya; Topeka, Kan.; Seattle; Rogers, Ark.; Las Vegas; New York City; and Hunting Valley, Ohio. Her final post is below. - Tanya Abrams

Applying to college has been a long journey, one that I could not have made alone. In the beginning, my dream of attending college in the United States with limited funds seemed to be just that: a dream. However, I am grateful to have had friends and family who were always supportive.

When I began my search for colleges, the United States-India Educational Foundation in New Delhi was a great resource. Early in the process, I attended information sessions and events with current students at the foundation. In fact, I learned of the Tata Scholarship at Cornell University through one such interaction. After these sessions, I believe I was able to make sound decisions for myself.

Later, the Internet became my most frequent source of advice. I found SAT tutorials, discussion forums and blogs like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's admission blog and The Choice itself.

I'm also glad to have had teachers who wrote, and rewrote, my recommendation letters. Friends and mentors from my summer science program were also there to help me cope with the myriad emotions of the past year. I'm thankful to have had all of these people to guide me along the way.

Sharing my experience on The Choice blog has been a pleasure. At first, I didn't know how to handle criticism from readers. But with time, I learned to embrace encouragement as well as disapproval. The comments would lighten my day, help me find a new way or make me rethink my decisions. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to share my story on this platform.

Inspired by this experience, I applied to blog for Cornell's Life on the Hill student blog. I am overjoyed that I have been selected as one of the bloggers for the coming school year. I'm looking forward to documenting my experience as an international student at Cornell as soon as it begins!

To all the people who have helped me reach this point, thank you.

Ms. Krishnamoorthy, a student at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi, is one of eight high school seniors around the world blogging about their college searches for The Choice. To comment on what she has written here, please use the comment box below.