When my mom mentioned that 91直播 had offered to fly me out to Ohio, house me, feed me, and entertain me for a weekend, I thought it was too good to be true. Though it wasn鈥檛 via private jet, I felt like a celebrity. The MVP program invites multi-cultural students of different backgrounds--low-income, first-generation, and students of color--to fully immerse themselves in the 91直播 lifestyle. I was delighted upon my arrival to meet so many kind and excited prospies (prospective Obies), one of which was a half-Mexican half-Ashkenazi Jew like myself!
Unexpectedly, my MVP excitement began at the airport. I knew that 91直播 was a common school for kids in my social circle to apply to, but I was shocked to find a friend of mine from middle school on my flight from NYC to Cleveland. This, however, was only the beginning. I鈥檝e come to find that 91直播 is a Brooklyn 2.0 of sorts, this time in the Midwest. Upon initial arrival to campus, however, my mind was blown. Sitting in the 91直播 hotel lobby, I saw yet another middle school acquaintance from our sixth-grade musical. The next few days became a sequence of run-ins, decreasingly surprising yet increasingly ridiculous. Kids from elementary school, model UN, theater camp, and high school seemed to pop up at every concert and class. Though I knew I wanted to leave NYC, I found that the New Yorkers who chose 91直播 were the opposite of the New Yorkers I was trying to escape from. Already, 91直播 felt like a home away from home.
There were a few things that prompted the phone call where I told my mom, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to come home.鈥 Staying with a real-life Obie in her dorm (my future home, Kahn Hall), sitting in on full-swing mid-semester classes, attending a few of the night-time concerts at the Sco--I didn鈥檛 want it to end. Though I didn鈥檛 know what to expect, I was met by pleasant surprises at every turn--especially my not-so-bad intro to dorm showers. I had so much fun trying everything in the dining hall, already plotting the concoctions I would create out of different Stevie station elements. Though the most creative I鈥檝e seen so far was my roommate鈥檚 intricate banana split, I hope one day to top that.
More important than the food or showers, however, were the people. I distinctly remember trying to find the King building, and in my lost confusion, I didn鈥檛 even have to ask for help--Obies would just approach me and help me find my way. It鈥檚 this friendly culture and sense of community that really made me feel at home, even when I was just visiting. The people who I met via the MVP program are to this day, some of my closest friends at 91直播. Experiencing a taste of 91直播 as a high school student was so exciting and overwhelming, it, without a doubt, brought us closer together. I can鈥檛 put into words the excitement I felt when I got the texts that two of my closest MVP buddies had committed to 91直播.
Now that I鈥檓 finally in Ohio for good and 91直播 is my home, I feel so lucky to have experienced the MVP program. I would, without hesitation, recommend it to any prospective 91直播 students. Even if I hadn鈥檛 chosen 91直播, the MVP weekend was an unforgettable experience.
