I have hopped schools four times from September of 2016 to September of 2017. It sounds extreme, but it is actually very common! In this six-part article series, "Confessions Of A School Hopper," I will be normalizing the many amusing, miserable, outrageous and peculiar things that occur when you find out (a little late) that you have no idea where the heck you want to go to college.

From a small private school to a community college to a prestigious public school to the best school for me, I have experienced it ALL in the span of one year and it has certainly changed me for the better.

I started my freshman year at the University of San Francisco, a small private school, very close to home. In an effort to fit in with the school, I started becoming a version of myself that I didn't recognize. I came to realize it was not for me and began seeing my parents pretty much every weekend. Though it was a great school, it was not my school. I had to be brave enough to say it was enough. I left after the first semester.

Lost and confused, I was unsure of where to go now. Am I supposed to wait a year and apply to colleges again? Do I take a semester off? Or do I stay at home and go to a community college?

All of my options were explored in the span of about 2 days, but the right choice was obvious. I needed to return home, enroll in my community college for the semester and apply to Universities with rolling admissions. Since I had just gotten used to living by my own rules, I dreaded the fact that I had to stay home for an entire semester.

The first couple of weeks back home were a breeze and I had a realization: I was too immature to go away for college, to begin with. This realization was hard for me to acknowledge, but it relieved me to accept that spending a semester at home was the best next step for me. The time I spent at home turned into a crash course on growing up. All the changes, realizations, paperwork and confusion, occurring in such a short time frame, left me with no time to be a baby.

As April rolled around, college acceptance letters came flying into my eager hands. My top two schools accepted me and again, the right choice was obvious. I visited the University of Oregon and instantly, (in the car driving around the campus) I fell in love. I knew to be skeptical because I had made a wrong choice before, however, at the end of my visit I felt completely satisfied being in Eugene, Oregon. So I committed the next day.

During my tour, I learned about a major at the UO that really caught my eye, General Social Sciences with a concentration in Globalization, Environment and Policy (GSS GEP). I was already well into my Sociology major requirements but the heart wants what it wants, so I requested to change my major to GSS GEP.

If you're a transfer student or planning on transferring in the future, you know how precise you have to be with choosing classes. I learned a lot about the struggles of being a transfer during my time at my community college, so when I went over my new four-year plan, I realized I was seriously behind. A few nervous thoughts later and I pulled myself together. The search for local classes I could take before going to UO had commenced.

I came across the summer sessions at UC Berkeley; their classes would help me complete my freshman year major requirements. I contacted the UO to make sure that these classes would transfer over and everything was a go.

I was then enrolled as a visiting undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, gaining all the same privileges as a UC Berkeley student. I spent my days going to class, using the abundance of libraries and taking advantage of student discounts around the city.

Now, I am packing for my first apartment at my fourth school and I am so excited to be starting over, again. It took a while to find, but I am confident in my decision to attend the University of Oregon.

I know this time; I’m here to stay.

Next time in “Confessions Of A School Hopper” I will be revealing the dangers of the idealistic search for a perfect school and how it effects our ways of thinking about college, decision-making and ultimately our perception of how we fit within a school.