During your final years of high school, you will be pushed to start looking for YOUR school. This school, whichever it may be, is perfect for you. It has the right programs, opportunities, and resources. It is in the right location with the right social environment. This school, YOUR school, will fit you like a glove. You just have to find it.

At least, that is what they tell you. They say that you will “just know” that you’ve found the right one. Something akin to a scene where you are standing on campus during a visit, and a wave of serenity rushes over you. Over the voice of your tour-guide, you hear the whisper of “This is it, this is the one,” as if it knows that you are meant for it and you know too.

It sounds nice, the idea that there is a perfect college out there calling your name. But what if you never get that? What if you never get that whisper and that calming sense of home? What if you started your college search early and all of the sudden it is April of your senior year with the May 1st deadline fast approaching, all of your friends have committed to schools and you still don’t know where you are going or what you are doing with your life?

It happens to the best of us. You try to save yourself the stress and suddenly you’ve created a bigger problem. 14 college decision letters later, 12 visits, and over 2 years of what seemed like constant and never-ending anxiety, I had my list down to 3 schools, but none of them gave me that feeling.

I’m here to tell you the truth about finding that glove of a school. Chances are, you aren’t going to find it, and that’s okay.

Not everyone is going to get that feeling. Not everyone is going to just know. Finding a college shouldn't be about finding a school that fits you, it should be about finding one that is going to mold you.

After nearly a semester in a school that is maybe “just not the right fit”, I’m staying here. I’ve realized now that I was afraid of jumping into the change that comes with going to college. I was looking for a school that would make me feel comfortable and not challenging my limits. A place where I could just be.

But who wants that stagnation? Who wants to stay in a place where there is no room for growth? I realize now that I would have eventually been content with any of those colleges. They all had what I needed; a place to study, sleep, and good academics. Even if none of them were my perfect fit then, I would’ve grown to fit any one of them.

Finding YOUR school is not worth the stress. I’m not saying to settle, I am saying to accept. Accept that life will go on no matter which place you choose. Accept that you are fighting an uphill battle. Instead, Enjoy life now. Enjoy the last football games, the school dances, and the time with your friends, but without the stress of finding YOUR school. Do it for all of the people who spent the last year of high school obsessing over things like “which school has the longest library hours” and “these dorms are carpeted and these ones are hardwood.”

That chance seems terrifying, I know. Even now, it still is. However, I now can say that I’d much rather be going to school that doesn’t quite fit in all of the right places, than a place that is my glove. At least here I have some room to move and grow.