Originally, I was not interested in going to Radford. I wanted to go to Virginia Tech (VT) and was almost certain I would get in. After being waitlsisted for VT, I had to choose a backup school. I wanted to be relatively close to home-- close enough where I could come home every weekend or every other weekend but still live on campus.
I decided to go to Radford instead of other colleges nearby (like JMU, VCU, Bridgewater, Longwood, etc) that I got into after I toured the campus. I really liked how small the school was without being tiny. I liked the physically small campus as well, as it meant less walking for me. I also wanted to attend a school that had a mock trial team.
I originally thought I would go to Radford for a year and then transfer to VT or another school, and that would be it for my time at Radford. I knew I was going to join the Mock Trial team at Radford, but still planned on transferring during the summer after my freshman year. During my first semester, I was trying out with the mock trial team and making friends. I really enjoyed being on the team and was slowly coming out of my shell and becoming more comfortable with public speaking. After realizing I was pretty decent at mock trial, I kept participating with the team. The coach let me compete as an attorney after my very first competition and then let me compete in some of the bigger competitions-- Regionals. I was an attorney on B Team, and we did the best that B Team has ever done before, with an honorable mention for a bid to ORCS (the big guns). I then went to watch ORCS and Nationals with the team.
After that first year, I realized I did not want to transfer. I found my people on the mock trial team and other students in the honors college. I will finish my two bachelor's degrees at Radford, and I want to be on the mock trial team when we go to Nationals.
I think Radford does a great job of preparing students for their futures and provides a strong community for reaching your goals. I think that my time at Radford is very valuable, and I would recommend this university to others.