My college decision was tough to say the least. I spent months obsessively Googling the colleges I was accepted to, comparing anything I could think to make a criteria. When I made my final decision just days before the deadline I felt extremely confident. There was no way I had overlooked anything important because I looked at everything no less than twenty times. I believed Rhodes College was the perfect fit for me. It would afford me amazing opportunities to volunteer and it’s a reasonable distance from my parents without the apocalyptic winters I’ve grown accustomed to. I was completely ready and excited to spend the next four years in Memphis.
Then I got a phone call from Reed College. They wanted to accept me off of their waitlist, which I had no idea I was even on. I felt this compulsive need to start researching Reed. What I found was pretty amazing. It’s in Portland, which is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit. I could spend spring break in L.A. and go hiking on campus. Exclusive clubs weren’t allowed, instead, there were clubs where you learned about the history behind certain cheeses and then ate them. I don’t really like cheese, but I saw that and immediately planned on joining. There was confetti and a copy of The Iliad in my acceptance package. How could I say no? I’d found the school of my dreams, and they were offering me admission.
A call from a school I hadn’t thought about for six months had me questioning every decision I had made in the last year. I forgot everything that I loved about Rhodes, and started to think of Reed as my future. The reason I was so susceptible to this sudden and drastic change in mindset is that move-in day at Rhodes was quickly creeping up on me. My future was becoming less hypothetical and that was seriously intimidating. It meant I’d soon have plenty of opportunities to screw up instead of just planning out those opportunities behind my computer, so when someone called me up and offered me a chance to go back to the stress-free life I was living three months ago I was elated.
Since then I’ve realized that Reed comes with its own set of doubts. No school is going to be perfect, and there is always going to be a school that seems better or more well-suited than another. The grass will always seem greener on another campus, but that isn’t a reason to abandon months of preparation and commitments. Now that it’s all over I’m happy I got the call. It was a stressful week filled with a lot of tough decisions, but I think I’m better for it. I’ve learned how to be content with the choices I’ve made. In the future I should be more steadfast and less open to the idea of switching colleges a week before I’m scheduled to move into my dorm.
