Come back every Tuesday for Recruiting Horror Stories™, athletes' first-hand stories on what can go wrong during the recruiting process.

The first thing I thought when I stepped foot on the aesthetic campus was wow–how could a college be this beautiful? But little did I know that beauty on the outside meant nothing at all. 

I wasn't thinking about that at the time–my visit was going great, the weather was nice, the coach was awesome and here I was on this beautiful campus 1,386 miles away from home. To add on there was a football game and everyone knows I love football. The excitement I was feeling was indescribable.

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The football game was amazing and the girls on my would-be team were all really nice and outgoing. They were constantly engaging with my mother and me and seemed really cool. The horror came when my mother and the coach left and I went to meet with the team around 9pm to hang out. They told me that we were just all going to chill at the team house and have some fun. Although I have never been introduced to “college fun” I was sure that I could hang with the big girls. 

An hour after I arrived, they decided to all go out to a popular party venue. I listened to them and agreed to attempt to get into the venue although they and I both knew I didn't look a day over 15. As we were walking up to the venue, the security guard stopped me. “Where do you think you are going?” he asked. I looked around and my teammates were already inside. 

Related: Peer Pressure: This Recruiting Horror Story Was No Party

“I'm with them” I told him, but he shook his head. I called one of the girls to let her know I couldn't get in and she told me to hold on. Turns out, I was “holding on” for 45 minutes. She and the other girls never came to get me. I called them one more time before my phone completely died. I was frantic because I had no idea where I was and my phone was dead so there was no way I could Uber anywhere. To make a long story short I ended up having to call my mom from a nearby 24 hours McDonald's to get me. Let's just say, I did not end up at this school!

College Tip: Travel in groups and never leave anyone alone–it's not safe!

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* Originally published on August 16, 2022, by Takora McIntyre