Portrait of the University of Northern Iowa

I completed my Bachelor's degree with a major in communication at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. There were several factors that led me to choose UNI as my university, and looking back, I know I made the right choice.

Cedar Falls is a medium-sized city in Northeast Iowa. If you're unfamiliar with the state, it is to the northeast of the state capital, Des Moines , and northwest of Iowa City. The community of Cedar Falls runs into another local community, Waterloo. In fact, the section in between the two cities is known as Cedarloo . Students live in Cedar Falls and Waterloo, and many students that enroll at UNI start their college careers at the community college in Waterloo known as Hawkeye Community College.

UNI used to be known as the Teacher's College. While this moniker has not been retained, one of the most pursued majors is education.

One important factor that helped me make my decision to enroll at UNI was the size. UNI has approximately 13,000 students. It's not as large as other public universities in the state, such as the University of Iowa. However, as a public university, UNI does not have the higher fees associated the private Iowa colleges, such as Wartburg , Luther, and Simpson.

A smaller school makes it easier to get to know the professors and to receive one-on-one help, and it makes it easier to get involved in the university's activities without having to be an excellent athlete or having a ton of experience as an actor. For example, I was given the job of reading the news at UNI's radio station after only being on-air once in my lifetime. Small schools offer these unique opportunities to dabble and experience lots of activities to see what you really like.

I was lucky enough to have a professor whose courses enabled me to really figure out what I wanted to do. I learned so much in my professional writing classes that I knew I had to continue into a Master's program for technical communication. A few years later, I still feel like that was the right decision and that I had a lot of help from a special instructor at UNI.

According to The Princeton Review, the University of Northern Iowa is ranked one of the best in the Midwest for colleges and universities. UNI continues to be ranked among the top midwest public universities in the "Best Regional Universities (Midwest)" category for public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2011 "America's Best Colleges" guidebook. (info gathered from UNI's website).

One of my favorite things about attending UNI was that my costs for athletics tickets were covered by the fees I had to pay anyway, so I was never scrounging for money to attend events. And UNI has good athletic teams. The volleyball team consistently excels and is great to watch. The football team is usually pretty good and the games are played indoors...no freezing in the cold during the harsh Iowa winters! In the spring of 2010, the UNI men's basketball team defeated Kansas, a number one ranked team, to advance in the NCAA tournament. I'm sure there are other sports highlights, but it's been a few years since I actually attended, and the sports I listed are the ones I still follow.

I also enjoyed attending the theatre and music events. When I went there, UNI had two theatres, one with a small stage and the other much larger. I saw a variety of plays there, including Angels in America.

Not that many people spend all that much time at the library anymore because everything is on the Internet, but UNI's Rod Library is a great facility for completing research papers and it has many small meeting rooms to reserve for practicing group presentations and speeches. As a communication major, I took advantage of the meeting rooms often to practice my speeches for my public speaking class.

One of my favorite places to spend time was on top of the Maucker Union. The entire UNI campus is gorgeous, but the Maucker Union was truly unique. Inside, there were computer labs, banquet halls, a gift shop, a large food court, a workout facility, and study areas, and on top, you could sit over the building and look out in every direction across the campus. I suppose I hold a uniquely special bond with the Union because my husband and I spent lots of time wandering around up there when we first started dating. I also remember standing on top of UNI's Union when my parents told me they were going to become snow birds and that every holiday break I had could now be spent in Florida!

Speaking of snow, UNI built an underground tunnel from Maucker Union to Lang Hall, which is where most of my classes were held. That was a welcome building feature on cold and snowy days! The Maucker Union is one facility you need to see. Check it out here: http://www.uni.edu/infosys/tour/maucker.shtml

UNI offers the personal attention of a small school with the luxuries of a large university. Check it out here: http://www.uni.edu.