From an early age, we are taught to think about the future. By the age of five, most children are asked this one question: What do you want to be when you grow up? It sounded simple enough at the time. We all answered with jobs like fireman, police officer, doctor, superhero, or in my case, veterinarian.

Then we got older. We entered middle school, then high school, and the questions became more serious...more real. Where are you applying to college? Are you getting a summer internship? What are you going to major in? All these questions started bombarding us at once, and if you were like me, you didn't know the answer. You started to dread family gatherings because you knew you'd hear those same questions ten times over, and you wouldn't be able to give an answer.

But then time went on, you made a plan. You found colleges you wanted to apply to and you had a general idea of what your interests were. You thought you were on the path to success. But this is where, for me, my life plan fell apart.

I was always told that I was smart. I was never top of the class, but I got above average grades, and I was in my fair share of honors and AP classes. I thought I was set as far as colleges went. My dream was to attend Georgetown University and study political science in hopes of getting into law school. I thought about it all the time. I lived only a short distance from the campus, and I had seen it so many times. I spent hours on my college applications, but I put my heart into the writing submissions for Georgetown. Once I hit the deadline, all I could do was wait. And then, finally, I received my responses from all of my applications, and it wasn't pretty.

Not only was a rejected from Georgetown, but on the same day I also received rejections from Columbia (which for the record was a long shot, but I would have been a fourth generation legacy) and Duke, and was waitlisted at NYU. I was devastated. I don't even remember most of that day, I've tried to block it from my memory. All I remember was how disappointed I was in myself. I didn't stop crying for over four hours.

After months of focusing on finishing high school, I reflected on my college options, and came to realize that although I never intended to attend Lehigh, it did sound like a good opportunity. I was starting to realize that my lifelong plan cannot be concrete. Things happen in life, people change, disasters occur. There are so many factors that are out of our control. And that requires us to change. It requires flexibility.

This was a lesson that I was only starting to learn. As the beginning of my college semester approached, I realized that law school sounded horribly boring. Coming to college, I panicked. I no longer knew what I wanted to do with my life. I decided to just think of things that interested me. It wasn't long before I found Psychology and Marketing.

Then sorority rush came around. I was nervous, but I knew one sorority that I loved, and that I was a legacy to. I thought for sure I would get a bid, and that it would be the perfect place for me. Every day, I had amazing conversations with the women there, I really felt I was bonding with them. Then, on the third day, one of the heads of recruitment of that chapter came to chat with me. I thought surely I was getting a bid. Then, on the final day, I was dropped. Although I had said I would keep an open mind, I was upset that I wouldn't get to wear my mother's vintage letter shirt, and be a legacy.

Change is never easy. So many people are scared of it. I am scared of it. But what I have found is that sometimes change is necessary, and it can be for the better. Now, I can't imagine being at another school aside from Lehigh. I have so many amazing friends, and a wonderful boyfriend that I never would have met if I hadn't come here. And I never imagined being a Psych and Marketing major, but it has already led to be getting an amazing internship after my freshman year. And although I was hurt through the rush process, I have found a sorority where I truly belong, where I feel comfortable, and where I have met so many amazing women. Although I planned my life out, it did not go accordingly. And I am so thankful for that.

Always remember:
"Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong" -N. R. Narayana Murthy