Turning down Notre Dame (albeit via the Gateway experience) was not an option because of my grandfather, who we call Papa Pete. Though he wasn’t alive when I received that letter from admissions, I felt his force making my decision for me.
Uncle Rob deserves the credit of getting my lazy self to apply, Notre Dame being my third and final college application.
But, it is because of my eldest cousin Peter that I’ve always had a feeling that Notre Dame was where I would end up…