[OrigamiTulip]

I really wanted to go to either Smith College or the University of Washington. I knew that there was no way in hell I could get into Smith, so I ended up not even applying there. I was fairly certain I could get into Washington, so initially I only applied there. A couple of weeks later, the Jacksonville Gator Boosters were having a reception/recruitment event for all the National Merit Semifinalists. Having been a lifelong Gator-hater, I didn't want to go. At the reception, they gave all of us these gorgeous orange and blue embossed applications that basically said give us your $20 app fee, and you'll be automatically accepted. Something told me I should probably go ahead and turn in the app, even though I still didn't want to go to Florida. Its a good thing I did though, because my Washington rejection came a few days later. I was heartbroken. In a panic over not getting into Washington, I thought that maybe Florida would reject me too, even though they had said admission was guaranteed. So when University of North Florida came to my high school to do instant admissions for the dual enrollment students, I went ahead applied and was immediately accepted there. Going to UNF would have been like grade 13 though, so I knew I wasn't going there except as a last resort. In the end, Florida kept their promise and admitted me a few weeks later. I decided to go there for a semester, and then try to transfer. But after having been there just a short time, I realized that I loved UF, and that I didn't want to transfer anywhere else.