A writer was born 18 years ago here in Iowa City, Iowa. He did not yet to know of the journey ahead of him. That writer is me.

Growing up in Iowa City has been one of my life’s greatest joys. One perk of living in Iowa City has been my proximity to the University of Iowa.

When I started Kindergarten, my dad went back to the UI in 2008 for his B.S. in Computer Science. That is when I first got acquainted with the university. Some of the most memorable moments are the basketball games in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Nothing beats hearing the loud roar of the crowd when the hawks made a basket; beating the half time rush to get ice cream; and getting pictures with Herky the Hawk almost every time we went. Standing in the crowd as a kid and now still holds the same feeling: knowing where you are meant to be.

Around the end of elementary school is when my mom started going back to the university in 2012 for her B.A. in English and Creative Writing. With her, I have enjoyed many book readings at the Prairie Lights bookstore.

Both of my parents have inspired me to attend the UI in fall 2021. However, those nights with my mom at Prairie Lights are what motivated me to become a writer, which is why I applied for a double major in English and Creative Writing and Journalism.

My brother began attending the UI for a B.S.E. in Computer Science and Engineering. He was a freshman when I was just a junior in high school.

My parents have graduated since then, of course. But campus and downtown Iowa City has still been a hotspot for things to do. The summers downtown were especially memorable.

In the summers growing up, my brother and I would run through the water arches near the Iowa City Public Library. Sadly, this summer and last year were the only two years that I missed the Fourth of July fireworks.

I remember enjoying the Jazz Festival with a good old mug of root beer in hand and sitting on the cold, hard steps of the Old Capitol Building. Seeing those fireworks go off was a symbol of what Iowa City has come to mean to me – a paradise.

This pandemic has made life feel less than a paradise because it limited what I could do downtown and on campus. Yet, this has not diminished my desire to attend the UI. With my brother currently attending, I have been able to sample what life at the UI is. Since we were both taking online classes, I could hear his classes as I took mine, so I felt like I was attending classes at the UI.

As I sat at a wooden desk throughout my educational career, I have dreamt of the moment I could go to college, especially at the UI. I often spent free time looking on the UI website of what classes I could take and all of the different majors – literally every major.

With my dreams of the UI so close to my chest, I applied in my junior year of high school. I attended multiple different pre-UI experiences, from “U at UI”, where I got to sample different majors, to touring The Daily Iowan. I did not apply to any other college. I had no reach schools, no fallback; only a dream to go to the UI.

I never really thought about any other colleges, because there was no need to; I was already home. Iowa City is and always will be my home. Not only because I live here, but because of my experiences, it made me want to stay here and attend the UI for my undergraduate degree.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.