So THERE'S The Money.

I got my fat envelope from Temple today. My brother was in the living room and I half-jokingly said, "This better be my money."

Well, I didn't actually believe it. But I opened the envelope, read "full tuition", and jumped in the air like a ballerina for the second time this week. I didn't even read the entire letter. I went straight to my dad's room like I did with the UVA decision. And while he was reading the letter, the door bell rang for the pizza man and obviously, tonight was the night to celebrate.

My dad gave me a smile and a high-five. He said he thought it was a black school though because they've had a black coach for so many years. I had to tell him like 70% is white (but I just found out that 45% of the population is minority groups) so no, it wasn't a black school. Plus, I wasn't trying to go to a black school. He also said that he liked the name and the school and would like me to go there (even more than UVA). I think it's because of their athletics but I have to agree only because they offer a wide selection of majors unlike UVA.

My mother's reaction was even better. I told her once she came home from work and got out of her work clothes. I just handed her the envelope without even telling her. She was making comments about money but she was totally not in the know that I had gotten a full scholarship. She hugged me, started singing Christian songs, and praying and she told me she was going to cry. She doesn't know much about the school but she said the name "Temple" sounded good. And of course, that's all that matters.

I was really happy. Ecstatic even. But of course, I have a way of ruining my mood for every good thing I receive.

I just found out that the scholarship doesn't cover housing and books which is about $7,000-$13000. Maybe if I qualify for need on the FAFSA, the money I receive may be able to cover the remaining costs. But who knows. I didn't want my parents to pay anything.

But of course, I'm going to force myself to think positive.

• The school has a LOT of diversity which I'm happy about. I didn't want to go to a black school but I sure as heck did not want to go to a school overflowing with white people. Not because I don't like white people but because I've always gone to a majority-black school and most of my friends are either black or Asian. Sooo yeah. Diversity, YAY.
• The school offers a wide variety of MAJORS. The only major that interested me at UVA was Biology. And I don't even wanna go into Biology. Temple offers Pre-Parm, Neuroscience, and I'm sure it even offers some computer/computer art majors that I think I would like to double major or minor in. 
• The school is in the city but isn't completely an urban campus. I've mentioned this before but after going to GWU, I realized that I didn't want to go to a school with an urban campus (like Boston U). I prefer the traditional campus because it feels like I'm actually going to college. And from what I know, Temple offers that. 
• It isn't too far from home. It's a 2-3 hour drive from home. I think that's perfect for me and my parents. I'm experiencing and entirely different environment but know that I can easily come home if I need to or my parents can come visit me if they want to. 
• I'm used to the weather. I was reading stuff about the weather in Philadelphia and from what I understand, it's not too different from Maryland. Four distinct seasons. Cold winters, hot summers. But not extremely cold and not extremely hot. That's why I'm a bit skeptical about going to school in either Boston or New York. I can't deal with cold weather. And that's why I didn't apply to any schools too deep in the south because I despise the heat even more. 
• I think they have good athletics. I guess I can search this up on Google or ask my dad about it. But they seem to have good sports teams so the school spirit is strong, which is what I want. This is why I didn't apply to GWU and why I'm skeptical about Fordham and some other schools because some are bad at sports or don't even have a football team. But one thing that I can't with Towson is its school mascot : the Owl. That's funny to me.
• FULL TUITION PAID FOR. The most important thing of all. And I get a three $4000 stipends for summer activities. Waahhhh?!

For now, I'm going to keep my mouth shut about this. Especially because I've been finding myself being a bit too proud and boastful. And I'm doing it in that not-boastful but pretentious way. I don't know if I even made sense. But in a way that I hate and I think I'm just gonna shut up about my own accomplishments because really they're for me and my family only. What's the point in everyone else knowing?

I especially don't wanna tell my closest friend because I know she got declined from some schools because of her SAT scores and I don't want to rub it in her face about the schools I got into. I know she applied to this school too and I'm not sure if she got a decision but I know the last time we talked about it, she hadn't gotten her decision while I had. And that kinda sounds bad. So I won't say anything for now. I know how it feels to see all these people doing way better than you and feeling completely inadequate and I don't want anyone to feel that way. Especially people who are DEFINITELY NOT inadequate. 

It's like that quote... I'm not sure who it was by but it went something like this: If you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it'll feel stupid all of its life...

I'll just find it and copy and paste... It was by Albert Einstein apparently...

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

I definitely believe that because I'm friends with so many people who aren't "book smart" but they're great at soo many things whether it's art, writing, being an amazing speaker, being an amazing friend, etc. Yes, I can get an A in some Biology test by studying for 5 minutes on the bus on that same day. But I can't speak to a human being without stuttering and pausing and making a fool out of myself. That's an art to me. 

And I've gone on a rant. 

To wrap this up, I'm happy for myself and I'm happy for my family. This school cancels out every school that I've gotten into thus far. Fordham... Drexel... Even UMBC and UVA.

I simply just wish the best for myself and hope things turn out well for me and the people I love. 

But Temple, this is such an ugly owl... Come on.