When I was deciding which college to choose to be my home for the next four years I found myself conflicted over wanting to live in a busy, bustling city but still craving the feel of a larger, more traditional state school. Deciding between city life and state school life was one of my most burdensome decisions.

I have always gone to small schools since I was an awkward middle schooler. My high school had only 101 graduates in my class and the grade above me was even smaller. I truly despised attending such a tiny school. Everything was drama because frankly, not much happened so when anything happened (literally, anything big or small), everyone spread the gossip like it was their job.

The highlight of my life in high school was being remarkably close to Boston, a jungle of a city that I explored at every chance. Taking the train into the city by myself for the first time in eight grade was one of my most liberating experiences of my life. I was on my own, independent at last and I reveled in every moment of it. For years to follow I fell in love with the buzzing speed and culture of this metropolis kingdom.

So now that I had tasted both the city and small town life, I was confronted with a perplexing choice, an impending decision that would forever alter the path of my life. Where should I go to college? More specifically, am I ready to move up to a massive state school and conquer unknown territory? Or should I attend a smaller university and move to the city where I know I will be swept away in all kinds of magic and mystery?

Somehow, I ended up doing both and loved every second of it, even the scary parts. My freshmen year I attended a small college in New Orleans with about 5,000 students. Exploring a brand new city with your friends is one of the most bonding experiences a person can have. Shout out to my Nola family! I was closer with these friends than I had been with most people from high school. I had so much in common with my friends and those similarities left us intimately connected. Mainly, this was because we all loved the interurban vibe that this soulful music hub in the dirty south provided for us. We all chose that school for the same reasons: the magnificent city of New Orleans and the promise of opportunity to explore ourselves in a diverse atmosphere.

However, the small school feel got to me and I needed something more. I then transferred to Arizona State University. This change flipped my whole life on its head. With over 80,000 students you could say I was overwhelmed and kind of intimidated. However, putting myself in an unfamiliar environment actually drew out a lot of positive qualities in me that I didn’t know I had before then. My new major pushed me academically in ways past educators had failed to do. I landed jobs that I hadn't had the courage to apply for before in fear of being rejected. I developed friendships with people that were my complete opposite and used those differences to grow myself and our relationship.

And although I will always miss Boston and New Orleans, going to a college with this many people makes it feel like you’re in your university's own private city. This is what we call a college town and it is a great place to live out your broke college kid fantasies. Everything, from restaurants to retail to just general fun activities is geared towards college students which makes it an exciting place to be for us.

Things never turn out the way you think they will. I never imagined that I would go from Massachusetts to Louisiana to Arizona and next year to study abroad in Paris! After that who knows where I’ll land. I know I won’t have the most “traditional” college experience but I’m carving my own path and having way too much fun doing it.

What I took away from this whole adventure is that whatever you choose, you are not trapped by your decision. There is always a plan b and when that doesn’t work resort to plan c and so on. There is always something we can do to improve our condition. Recognizing that one choice isn’t the end all, be all of decisions is the first step in understanding how to adapt to a situation and create an environment that we thrive in. There's nothing wrong with changing your mind. So long as you act on that change you will be happy.