Sometimes a decision that you have no control over will impact your life in a multitude of ways. These decisions can be positive or negative, but they can shape who you are as a human being.

Imagine being six years old with not a care in the world as you play with all of your neighborhood and school friends, unaware that it is your family's going away party. I never truly did comprehend the idea of moving to a different state; I never understood the amount of distance between Maryland and Florida.

The car ride down to Florida is now just a blur of a memory. Any leftover household items that were not put on the moving truck were jammed into the back of the minivan. I remember staying in a hotel halfway between Maryland and Florida. At that hotel, we picked out a bouquet of flowers to send to my aunt, who's birthday, unfortunately, landed on the day we were moving. The next thing I remember from that car ride is passing through the gate to my new neighborhood.

Nowadays when times get rough, I find myself saying, "why did we have to move from Maryland?" However, I constantly think of how I would be a completely different person if we had not moved to Florida.

First, I wouldn't have met my best friends. Yes, I do miss my Maryland friends. I have been friends with them since I was two, and whenever we see each other it is like no time passed—even when we haven't seen each other in over a year. However, I have also grown up with people down here in the Sunshine State. I have made many friends and even lost some, but I would not trade any of my Floridian friends for living in Maryland again.

Second, I would not have experienced all the memories from my elementary, middle, and high school. If I stayed in Maryland, I most likely would have continued my education in public school. Down in Florida, however, I attended small, Catholic private schools. Because of the small size, teachers were able to get to know me on a deeper level than just my academics. Throughout high school, I would visit my former elementary and middle school teachers because of the impact they made on my life, and I plan to continue that whenever I come home from college.

While never moving to Florida would have allowed me to be with my Maryland friends 24/7, the life I have created in Florida is not one that I am willing to trade.