Story by Amy Turner, Staff writer
Photo courtesy of Kristin Anderson
Picking a university to attend is a big deal. Most students would never show up at a random university out of state and decide to make it home for the next four years.
Kristin Anderson, sophomore from Norman, Oklahoma, did just that when choosing a school almost 10 hours away. She never planned on going to college at all, but her mom had other hopes for her. Eventually, at the suggestion of her high school guidance counselor, Anderson applied for Murray State College… or so she thought.
Murray State College is a small school of around 3,000 students in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Anderson applied to appease her guidance counselor but had no real plans on attending.
Later on when she was filling out the address for Murray State for her transcripts, she realized she had applied for the university in Kentucky.
“I typed in Murray State and scrolled to the bottom of the website page and saw Kentucky,” Anderson said. “I was like ‘Oh I’m on the wrong website page’ so I got a new browser, typed in Murray State and logged in to make sure I was on the right place and scrolled to the bottom and realized ‘Crap, I applied to the wrong school.’”
Around this time, she received a full ride scholarship to another school in Oklahoma. She planned to attend that university in Oklahoma when her friends and family told her it was unsafe and understaffed.
Other colleges to which Anderson applied still hadn’t contacted her at this point. Faced with the choice between an unsafe, understaffed college and the out-of-state wild card, Anderson had to make a choice.
“All of this happened within a month and after that I started to feel like maybe I was supposed to go to Murray State,” Anderson said. “My dad told me, ‘Kristin, I don’t want to be one of those people who says it’s God’s will for your life, but I think this is God’s will.’”
Anderson’s high school guidance counselor, Deana Edgar, agreed.
“I told Kristin ‘I knew God would take you to college and take you where you needed to go,’” Edgar said.
Looking back at it now, Anderson is able to find humor within the whole situation. She went from not wanting to even attend college to accidentally enrolling in a four-year university.
“I thought ‘That is so Kristin,’” Edgar said. “We all just have the greatest laugh about it. Everyone was very excited she messed up.”
Anderson attributes her decision to stay to the community that she has found here.
“I think the reason that I stayed is that this is where my best friends are now, this is where my home is now,” Anderson said. “This is my community now. It is also a good school.”