Why I chose to stay home in Greenville

By: Miles Baker

Furman has been my home for my entire life. My mom started working at Furman back in 2001 before I was born. My sister graduated from Furman in 2015 and my brother graduated in 2020. Thus, here I am set to graduate in 2024. As you can see, Furman runs in my family. I spent almost every summer of my childhood here running around in the library or doing summer camps like the Scopes science camp. I did grow up here and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything. However, being a student here is totally different from all those experiences.

Like I mentioned earlier, both of my siblings graduated from Furman prior to me coming here, and I did not want to follow in their footsteps at all. I wanted to go far away to either a smaller school like Furman or a big state school. I wanted to leave the south and go somewhere that had cold winters up north. However, I’m glad I chose to stay so close to home and here’s why:

I didn’t have the most fun during the college admissions process.  I found it quite draining and difficult for me to deal with as I went through my senior year. It was hard for me but I started off knowing what I wanted more than a lot of my friends which was really helpful. I applied to only five schools with one outlier being a state school. I mainly applied to small liberal arts schools around the eastern seaboard. As I was traveling to these schools, I always kept comparing every school I visited to Furman. That’s when I knew Furman was the school for me.

None of the schools in my search checked the boxes I had like Furman did. I wanted a small school that didn’t feel so small in where I would know everyone after one year. I wanted a school with small class sizes so I could connect with my professors. And lastly, I wanted a school with lots of opportunities. This is where Furman set itself apart for me. The opportunities to do research or an internship and the chance to study abroad were important factors for me and really helped me ultimately make an informed decision. So far, Furman has been nothing but a great experience!

I don’t feel like I am in the shadow of my siblings on campus. I am me: Miles Baker. I’m not just a number on a big campus, I’m an individual with access to everything that Furman has to offer. I am so excited to take advantage of all the things Furman has to offer over the next few years and hopefully I’ll see a few of you along the way!