At the end of last spring, I was faced with an impossible choice: Stay at my current school, close to my friends and family, or leave everything behind to pursue my dream?

I had a similar choice my senior year of high school. Do I pursue art at a nice, pricey liberal arts college, or do I study architecture, a career that wouldn’t doom me to a life of odd jobs and freelance, at a cheaper school thirty minutes away from hometown?

I took the safer bet, and in the fall, started attending Florida Atlantic University.

Architecture ended up being unlike anything I had ever done. It was difficult and competitive. I, who was complacent most of my academic career, shockingly rose to the occasion. I spent 40 hours a week working in the studio with people who became like family to me. I saw my high school friends and my family frequently and often.

My relationships made me happy. However, when left alone to my thoughts, I was plagued with dread.

What if I fail? Will I be able to graduate? Will I be able to get a job? Am I gonna end up living with my parents my whole life? Am I passionate about this? Is this it? Is this gonna be the rest of my life?

The path my life was going was becoming immensely more clear, and it terrified me. Same boyfriend, same place, same friends, in a career that emotionally exhausted me.

What if I won the lottery? I often asked myself. If I had endless money, I wouldn’t be asking myself these questions in the first place. What would I do then?

Then answer was simple. I would drop out of Florida Atlantic University and pursue Animation at Ringling College of Art and Design.

I confessed to my parents how much I hated architecture. They were disappointed. Then, my dad said, “You don’t have a plan. So, you don’t do architecture. What’s next?”

What, indeed.

I had fantasized about doing animation since I was a kid. Florida Atlantic University did not have an animation program. However, the University of Central Florida did.

Character Animation was a limited access major, and it would take an extra year for me to graduate. I would need to do two years of art classes before even starting anything animation-related. I read more about the major, and it seemed just as rigorous as architecture. It was another uphill battle. I questioned whether I would get into the University of Central Florida in the first place. The demand of Architectural Studio affected my performance in other classes and weighed down my GPA.

Nevertheless, I sent out an application.

And I got in.

This time, when making my decision, I favored the risk.

I made a decision that was for me. I left my friends and family behind to pursue my dream. I cast aside all my doubts and fears. I still ask myself a lot of the same questions about the future. However, whether I succeed or fail, I’ll know I made a decision I can be proud of.

I won’t look back in five years, and wonder what could have been.