If you are like me, you probably spent your high school years joining every possible club, advanced placement course, and honor society around. When your friends went out on the weekends you were in your bedroom finishing that 10 page research paper due Monday. You worked tirelessly to be the perfect student because you wanted to be accepted by the college of your dreams.

Also, if you are like me, that small envelope impacted your future in an extremely big way. The months waiting for it to arrive felt like decades and you had invested so much of yourself into that application. You just had to get accepted. Yet when you tore open the package it wasn't what you had expected. You most likely received a message along the lines of, "Unfortunately, you have not gained acceptance into <insert dream school here> University, we just had an extremely competitive pool of applicants this year." When I had received my letter about a year ago, all that I could do was stare at it in shock. I thought maybe if I stared at it long enough, its contents would change, but it never did. After that, I proceeded to ugly cry for about two weeks straight. I was heartbroken because that was by far the most significant rejection I had ever experienced. My Facebook was flooded with my fellow students' posting about their recent admissions to their own dream colleges. Every part of me wanted to be bitter about the situation, but I couldn't let this loss keep me from moving forward with my own education. This was simply my new reality and I had to either face it or stay stuck in my misery.

I am here to tell you that even though you may feel like your life plan is ruined, it is not! I am living proof of that. Here is a piece of guidance that I can offer you; go to college! It doesn't matter what institution -- as long as you go somewhere -- because you can always transfer. Another point of advice I can give is to be excited about your future! You have your entire life ahead of you, don't waste a second of it on regretting what is behind you. Keep moving forward at all costs and don't lower the expectations you have for yourself.

Sure, I would have never thought that I would be going to a school 15 minutes from my house, but now I am thankful for it. I have every bit of the college experience that I would have received if I were to have been accepted by my dream school, and more. I live in a dorm. I have new and exciting friends. I have the same independence, yet I can go visit my dog whenever I am having doggy withdrawals. I also was able to visit my dad when he had his hip surgery earlier this semester. These are all things that I would have missed out on, if I would have gone to my dream school. I do admit, however, that I still have an ache in my heart from all of the what-if situations that could have happened if would've been accepted. It is completely okay to feel this way, because you couldn't get over your first crush in a day, could you? Getting over your first college crush is the same idea. It will take time and effort, but you will be better off in the long run, and even if you aren't where you want to be right now, it is where you are. That being said, it's time for us dream college rejects to move the world, and make those schools wish they would have said "yes.".