I attended a small all-girls high school in Massachusetts, and I narrowed myself into a small college box. I urge every high school student to take the chance at something unexpected; it might just be the most life-changing choice you ever make.

My most profound high school memories were with my English teacher of three years, who I owe the world for my lifelong intellectual curiosity, the vision that I can change the world, and, most importantly, my college recommendation to a substantial number of small New England colleges and Cornell College of Arts & Sciences.

Coming from this life-changing small English class, where 15 students sat in two rows, I could never imagine myself in the 200-person lecture halls at Cornell. Although something inside me knew I was drawn to Cornell’s mission: “any person can find instruction in any study,” and I felt an immense urge to apply.

When it came time to make a decision, I was staring at acceptances from the daunting Cornell and five New England colleges that equally reminded me of my high school. Despite its size, something in Cornell’s mission and world-renowned research drew me to my ultimate decision, and the best risk I have ever taken.

Among the inevitable large freshman lecture halls, the first class I ever attended in my first year proved to me that choosing Cornell brought me to an institution that would stay with me, impact the rest of my life, and provide me with the small and tight-knit community I was longing for. In my first semester, I elected to make a 2000-level Comparative Literature course count towards my first-year writing seminar credit. As soon as I entered this small class of 15 students, I instantly felt at home. Not only did my professor quickly learn each student's talents and passions, but our class became incredibly close in just one semester. We join together for semesterly dinner, and the professor still remembers each of our names, majors, and even the specific classes we took in the first semester of our freshman year. It truly is the small, tight-knit communities within a large school at Cornell, representing the entire world, that make it one of the most special places on earth.

Throughout my almost two years at Cornell so far, I have shifted from a Biological Sciences pre-med student to a Biology & Society student with a minor in health policy on the pre-health track, passionate about impacting healthcare globally. I found this shift in passion from Cornell’s ability to let any student pursue anything they desire over their four years. Biology & Society is a unique major at Cornell that allows me to intersect my passion for biology with how science impacts society every day.

Looking back on my profound intellectual and personal growth during my time at Cornell so far, my best advice for incoming first-year students is not to choose a school based on its size or familiarity, but rather on how it will propel your passions and your future.