Better Late Than Never

Hi everyone! My name is Shanna (Shay-nuh) Mansfield, I am a Public Relations major with a minor in English. I’m from a town called Pearl River in Rockland County, just outside of NYC.

So, I’m going to take it back to my senior year in high school. Unlike most of my peers who had been applying to colleges since the beginning of the year I hadn’t applied to any. Nope, not a single one. I had absolutely no direction, no idea where I wanted to go, what I wanted to study or who I wanted to be.

A couple months before graduation, I applied to my local community college, RCC, and was accepted. Better late than never.

While at RCC my freshmen year I had tons of free time on my hands, which I used to visit friends who had been whisked off to different colleges. My first visit was to our very own SUNY Oswego! I fell in love, I’m talking head-over-heels love and there was no turning back for me.

I loved the atmosphere, the vibe, the campus, the beautiful and breathtaking lake. THIS. This is what I wanted. I couldn’t get enough and I never wanted to leave. But of course I had to, if I could’ve hid in my friends dorm room for the rest of the year, oh believe me I would have!

Throughout the year I had visited other schools, but nothing left me feeling the same way Oswego did. So I began my transfer application to SUNY Oswego and was accepted!

I transferred in my sophomore year (better late than never). However, I still lacked that direction that everyone else around me seemed just instinctively have. It wasn’t until last year that I had finally decided my major, once again, better late than never! It was with the guidance and help of a dedicated advisor and truly inspirational professors that I was able to find myself and my direction, and realize new dreams and aspirations.

It may have taken me longer than some to get to this point, but the best decision I have ever made was making SUNY Oswego my home away from home. Better late than never.

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