When I toured campuses to find my potential college, I didn't do as many tours as I should have. I've never really understood how you're supposed to tour all of these colleges and then just know that one of them is right for you for the next four years of your life. Don't all colleges have something different to offer? Don't you get as much out of it as you put into it?
As a senior I completely changed my plans to attend an east coast school for music, and I had no idea where to go. I had only toured one campus, so I had nothing to compare it to. When it came to May and I still hadn't decided on a school or a major, I ended up committing to an in-state school, which I swore up and down for years that I would never do, and picking a major completely opposite of music. I chose my school without taking a tour, meeting with advisors, and looking into other schools. I decided to attend the University of South Dakota for just one year so I could figure out what to do with my life and then transfer out to a different school. Well, transferring is a lot of work and I wasn't sure if I would even like the schools I thought about transferring to, which begs the question: is my college really right for me? Is college ever really right for anybody?
To be fair, I have nothing against where I go to school, but I wonder if I'll always question if it was the right school for me. Maybe when I've graduated and have a career it will all make sense, but right now it's all very confusing. Four years is a lot of time to be in one place almost all of the time. My campus is a little smaller than I like, but I also didn't want to go to a huge campus either. There were schools I would've picked over USD, but they didn't have my major, or they were too far away. Of course your college experience is what you make of it, but what you make of it at one school is completely different than another. I loved my first year at USD, and when summer came all I wanted to do was go back to school. Coming back after your first year is an adjustment period, because the magic of independence and freedom is gone, and for a few days I wondered if I really wanted to be back. However, classes starting up again really changed my mind.
You can't go through your whole life asking "what if," but I've been doing it a lot lately. With all of the different social media platforms we have, it's so easy to be able to see what everyone is doing and where they're at. You see your friend at a college two states away having the time of their live, and then you hear about another friend who completely dropped out because they hated their school so much.
So, if you find yourself questioning whether or not your school is right for you, you're not alone. We've all had those thoughts more that once, but most of us stuck it out. If you're seriously questioning your choices, you can always talk to a friend, an advisor, or your parents. Transferring is nothing to be ashamed of, but it's definitely a big change that takes a lot of consideration.
