TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — The Louisiana student who mistakenly applied to the wrong SLCC finished her long weekend in Utah.
It was mistake no one would have known if not for a tweet Kaitlynn Lovelady composed went viral. It turned into into a free trip to Utah and college tour of Salt Lake Community College.
“I got to see snow for the first time ever,” said Lovelady, who had never been on an airplane or long trip away from her home state.
Lovelady and her friend Brooke Miramon got the Utah treatment, hitting all the hotspots in the state’s capital city.
“People have taken incredible care of us,” Miramon said.
The tour of northern Utah was not expected in February when Lovelady absent-mindedly applied to SLCC.
“I was like, ugh, did this really just happen,” Lovelady said.
Searching for an affordable alternative to her current university, she intended to go to the other SLCC: Southern Louisiana Community College.
“We laughed. We were like, ‘What did you think when it asked are you a resident or things like that?’ She said, I just didn’t think about out it,” Miramon said.
Lovelady did, however, think about Twitter.
A tweet that went viral read, “I just applied to SLCC for summer classes only to realize its Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City, Utah.”
The tweet reached more than 30,000 people in a few days and caught the attention from high profile Utahns, including Lt. Governor Spencer Cox.
“I wasn’t expecting it to get this big,” Lovelady said.
Dozens of Utahns said the mishap was the best mistake she’s ever made, including the Utah National Guard. A Twitter user paid for her trip while others offered suggestions to do while in Utah.
“Everywhere we go, there are people texting us and hang out for the day and follow us around. It’s been really hilarious, just, the situation in general,” Miramon said.
Salt Lake Community College offered to reimburse Lovelady’s $40 application fee. Instead, she took them up on a campus tour Monday morning.
“We are really happy about it now. It’s been a lot of fun,” Salt Lake Community College Ambassador President Rachel Reichmann said.
“It really showed me there is a lot more than where I am now and there are a lot of opportunities elsewhere,” Lovelady said.
Lovelady admits she’s likely to finish out her senior year in Louisiana, but is seriously considering moving to Utah this summer.
