College is a defining experience. Not only is it supposed to be the four years that we look back on and think “I had the time of my life,” but it is also where we find ourselves and undergo personal growth. College is for gaining new perspectives and creating relationships that will impact our lives forever. College is where we discover who we want to be and where we become that person. Deciding where we want to do this is ridiculously hard. Finding out that you chose wrong is even harder.
Being from Massachusetts, vacations to Florida with my family as I grew up made Florida my happy place. It was my second home. From the time I was in eighth grade, that’s what I pictured for my college experience. My college home was meant to be in Florida. By the time my older sister was deciding to go to the University of Miami when I was a sophomore in high school, I knew that it was my dream school. I had an emotional connection with the school; everything about it was telling me that this is the place I would belong during my college years.
When it came time for me to make the actual decision, I was guided in a different direction. The opportunity to play Division One tennis led me to commit to a small school in Connecticut called Fairfield University. As my freshman year at Fairfield evolved, all I could think was, I’m supposed to be at UMiami.
I eventually received my acceptance letter to the University of Miami in early April of my freshman year and put a deposit down in May, but it wasn’t until late July that I made the final decision to transfer. This decision was one that hung over my head every day. Am I willing to lose the half-scholarship I have at Fairfield? Am I willing to give up D1 tennis after years of hard work? What if Fairfield could get better for me? What if I’ll be unhappy at UMiami?
I honestly couldn’t and still can’t really give you an answer for any of these questions. All I know is that if I didn’t take this chance and go to the University of Miami, I would look back on it and regret it. UMiami is where I want to have my life-defining experience. It is where I want to have the time of my life. It is where I want to learn and grow as a person. UMiami is the place that I want to shape me into the person I am going to be. Is it the right choice? I don’t know. But I’m not willing to regret not finding out. Like my soon-to-be UMiami alumnus sister says, you regret the things you don’t do, not the things you do.
