I believe that as humans, we tend to overlook the things that we have and take things for granted. I personally have done that on many occasions, especially when things don’t necessary go my way. As I’ve gotten older, I've tried to make the best of what I have and appreciate things more, but when I started college in the fall, I saw myself complaining more about life, school and many other things. I started to put myself down, and the only reason why I was doing that was because I was comparing myself to others and their achievements. Throughout my eighteen years of life I’ve made many accomplishments, but they seemed small and insignificant compared to what many of my peers were doing. Although I was overwhelmed with joy for my friends and what they were doing, I couldn't help but wonder when I was going to have my peak or moment of success.

Rather than going into a depressed state or giving up, I went into hyperdrive. I started to throw myself into my schoolwork and doing extracurriculars (like Odyssey) to grow as a person and to start working more. I even landed an internship that fit with what I wanted to do, and I started composing and producing music.

But I still felt a void. For a while I thought it was because I didn’t the college experience that I always dreamed of. I thought about transferring, and I still do, but I wanted to weigh my options. I wanted to learn the opportunity cost of staying at City College versus going to a HBCU or a “name brand” school. I wanted to know which path would ultimately help me reach the career that I dreamed about. Each school had its pros and cons, and everyone in my life had their own opinions about what I should do. Even though I felt sure about one option, something would happen that would make me change my mind again. I looked at pioneers in the industry that I wanted to work in and I still conflicted. I didn’t know what to do and where to go, and I felt terrible because although I knew where I wanted to be in the future, I didn’t know where I wanted to be now and how that decision was going to affect my life in the next few years. I decided that whether I was going to transfer or graduate from City College, I wanted to make the best of both options.

So I made plans. I planned out what I wanted to do if I stayed in New York City and started looking up internships and mentors that could help me find a steady path with my career. I researched scholarship opportunities and programs that would benefit me at CCNY, like the Stanford/CCNY summer research program in the Humanities or the many internships and jobs at companies like SONY Music or Universal Music Group. I also did research about other schools and the connections I would get if I transferred. I also thought about the college experience I would get if I transferred (because I would be leaving home).

As you’re reading, you can probably sense that I am weighing the options as I write. But this piece isn’t about where I’ll be attending college in the fall. This piece is about making the best of what I have. I felt that going to CCNY was going to inhibit me from getting the career that I wanted in the future, but I made plans so that wouldn’t happen to me. This is something that we all could do – whether we are on top of the world or feeling low, we should all be able to make light of whatever situation we are in.

Recently I was scrolling through tumblr and I saw this tweet post about a man who got into seven grad schools for a PhD in sociology (twitter story below). He was talking about his journey to where he is currently, and how it was a long process but he never thought he would get to the position where he is now. He was simply worried, as many of us are. He made the best of his opportunities, and now he is choosing from all these great graduate schools. He never thought he would be in this predicament, let alone graduate from undergrad. There is plenty more where that came from, but I just wanted to point out that even though you might not be in the position that you always dreamed of, you can still make things work to your advantage and life still moves on. And although I am conflicted about college, I know that wherever I end up, I’ll be fine and you will be too.