One of my biggest regrets is not believing in myself.

Flashback to senior year of high school. I was taking three AP courses and planning to apply to college. My family didn't have a lot of money, so I felt stressed by the high costs of senior year: the SAT, graduation robes, senior dues, applications, and testing fees. I ended up only taking two AP exams to save money and only applied to three colleges. One of the colleges I applied to I didn't want to go to but applied because the application was free if you attended their open house. One of the schools I wanted to go to is the only school in my state that offered the degree program I was interested in. But the application fee was expensive and I doubted myself, telling myself that, "I'm not good enough at science and math." So I didn't even apply.

To this day, I wonder what would have happened if I didn't doubt myself and worry so much about money. I wish that I had gone after the degree program I really wanted. I'm very happy with the school I attended for undergraduate (go Wolfpack!), but I know things could have turned out very differently if I hadn't held myself back.

Flash forward to freshman year of college: I was in the Exploratory Studies Program because I had not declared a major. I had many ideas about the things I wanted to study but felt concerned about my career options. My dad encouraged me when I looked into nursing and also suggested I study forestry, but neither of those careers called to me. Nursing was practical, but not what I wanted. Forestry was something that my dad wished he had the opportunity to study and I was irritated that he was trying to push his regrets on me.

I ended up choosing a field I was interested in and adding on a teacher concentration. I felt like I could enjoy teaching and that it would be a career always in high demand and I could work from anywhere in the world. I wanted to study abroad while I had access to wonderful programs, so I decided one summer to save up my money and enroll in a program the next semester. I remember calling my dad while on a work break and telling him about my plans for study abroad. He laughed at me and told me that was not practical. I was angry at him for not supporting my goals and needless to say, I was never able to do a study abroad program.

If there is anything I could change about my undergrad experience it would be the SELF-DOUBT. I should have never crushed my own dreams or allowed others to break my spirit. If you are looking at colleges now, or are in college, don't let someone else tell you what you can achieve. Go after what you want, because in the end, it's your life and you will live with your choices.