International student from Vietnam has her dreams of ‘lying on the beach between classes’ in Florida shattered after realizing she’d applied for Miami University in OHIO
International student from Vietnam crushed her dreams of ‘laying on the beach between classes’ in Florida after realizing she had applied to Miami University in OHIO
- Valerie Do thought she had applied to Miami University in Florida, later realized there was another college with the same name in Arctic Ohio
- In a series of TikToks, she told her story to the world, but explained the mistake was a blessing in disguise
A Vietnamese student who dreamed of enjoying Florida’s beaches at the University of Miami ended up at an institute of the same name in Ohio.
Valerie Do, currently a college junior, thought she had applied to Miami University in Coral Gables, Florida, but it turned out to be Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Her dreams of lying under palm trees on the sun-drenched beaches of the warmer state came crashing down when she received her acceptance letter.
But a little research into the Ohio college’s business school convinced her to accept and Do quickly realized the mistake was actually a blessing in disguise.
Valerie Do, currently a college junior, thought she had applied to Miami University, but never realized there was another college with the same name in cold Ohio.
The video currently has almost two million views and reads: ‘When someone says ‘go to hell’ but I’m studying abroad at Miami University of Ohio
Valerie Do, currently a college junior, thought she had applied to the University of Miami. But she actually applied to Miami Univesity, Ohio and eventually accepted her position there
Do tell Insider: ‘I realized there are no beaches; it’s just a cornfield in the middle of nowhere in the American Midwest.’
While Do has been making many people laugh on campus with her story for the past two years, it wasn’t until last week that she shared her story on TikTok for the world to know.
The video currently has almost two million views and reads: ‘When someone says ‘go to hell’ but I’m studying abroad at Miami University of Ohio.
‘I thought it was Miami Florida and didn’t realize. There are no beaches here, it’s just cornfields and in the middle of nowhere.’
While many viewers related to her confusion, others wrote ‘love and honor’ – an ode to the Miami University tagline.
One British user wrote: ‘No because I’m from a town in the UK called Boston and we’ll have international students turn up at college thinking it’s the one in the US.’
Another chimed in and said: ‘I did the same thing and accidentally applied to the wrong college, only realized when I had my mum read the application essay and she freaked out lol’
Some even called Do’s case a scene from Hannah Montana or something Kelly Kapoor from The Office would do.
After the video went viral, she released another one on TikTok explaining that she loves her university and that it was the best decision she ever made.
‘First of all I love my school and I love it here. Miami has the true American college experience I was looking for, just like the movies.
Because I grew up watching movies like Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, Bring It On, Animal House and stuff like that and I was hoping to experience stuff like that and Miami has the perfect stuff for me.
‘The people here are also very friendly and I feel like I don’t have to change myself to fit in, if that makes sense.
‘This aspect is something very important for international students because we came here and we have this big language and culture barrier. Miami has great resources for international students.’ she said.
She told Insider that she didn’t expect the video to blow up like this and that criticism didn’t bother her.
Do also talked about her spring trip to Florida, telling the publication that she felt unsafe there and was very happy to be in Ohio instead.