By Sophie Overholt
Going anywhere out of state from Indiana can seem a long way. From Kentucky, Virginia, Utah and to Florida, it could round up to be 1,000 or more miles!
Some seniors choose to go out of state for college. Sometimes it’s for sports, the weather, or that feeling of wanting to see the world and not just being stuck in your hometown.
Families and pets will be missed, but not the opportunities and adventures that these seniors will have from going to out of state colleges.
Addie Phillippe is going to a popular place well known for a good spring break vacation, Florida.
“I just wanted to get far away from here and experience places other than Indiana,” she said.
Addie says that the idea of going to an out of state college was influenced by her parents and was also a self choice of wanting to be by the beach.
She is going to Polk State College in Winter Haven, Florida, to play volleyball. It is about 16 hours away from Indiana. She already visited Polk State last July.
One thing she liked the most when she visited was that “the coaches and the girls (teammates) were really welcoming and it just felt like a family.” Phillippe plans to study business at Polk State.
Phillippe has come to be okay with the idea of being away from Indiana, but not being away from Bodie, her mini goldendoodle.
Leaving Indiana because of sports is often a reason why people choose to go out of state for college.
Jennings Wine chose Kentucky Christian University in eastern Kentucky.
“I chose KCU because not only is it cheaper and I can also play football,” he said, ”and the coaches are super kind and all the people there are really good.”
Wine says he is more than ready to play football for KCU, since he already has a feel of what practices will be like because he has already been to the spring practices. He says that the schedule will feel weird because he isn’t used to playing on Saturdays.
Wine plans to study biology, then will come back to do his masters, then he plans to go to a chiropractic school.
Another Delta senior is going further than Addie Philippe, but another reason came into play when deciding where she wanted to go for college.
“I have been around the Midwest pretty much all my life, and I definitely didn’t want to stay in one place,” senior Christina Thorpe said. “I just have a heart that just wants to see the world.”
Thorpe is going to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This is about 1,500 miles and 24 hours away from Indiana by car.
She plans to study psychology, possibly political science, and women’s studies. BYU is a religious college, known for its accounting school and affordability.
Going to a faraway college can be scary, especially when you meet new people, but Thorpe doesn’t have to worry about that as much because she has already made a few new friends online and she has a few cousins there as well.
Even with some of her family living in Utah she says that her family is still definitely going to miss her. Thorpe says she will miss them just as much if not maybe a little more.
“I’m definitely going to miss my mom making food for me, and my little sister, Makayla, she is like my baby.”
With almost the same reasoning for leaving Indiana as Christina Thorpe and Addie Phillippe, that feeling of getting out of your hometown is a common want among these Delta seniors.
Traveling about eight and a half hours away, Kennedy Martinez is heading to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I chose an out of state college because I really just kind of wanted to get out of Indiana and experience a different place,” she said.
She said that since middle school she has really stuck with the idea of going to college out of state.
Martinez chose to go to Virginia Tech because they have a good nursing school. The University of Virginia is known for its school involvement, such as the secret societies they have there.
“I would say my brothers kind of influenced me going to an out of state college because they also went out of state,” she said, “so that kind of inspired me to go as well.”
Kennedy has three brothers.
Her oldest brother, Ryan, went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied computer science.
Another brother, A.J., went to IU Bloomington and was studying business.
The last brother, Maxx, is currently at Vassar in New York and is studying to be a neuroscientist.
She says that since she is the youngest child and that she is the last one leaving it makes her mom a little more sad.
Martinez is planning to leave mid August but goes to Virginia again for orientation in July.
While these Delta seniors are traveling across the map it will be heard not to miss them. They will most surely be remembered for their accomplishments, and it will be fun watching their progress through posts on social media.
