When I was a sophomore in high school, I was on the fast track to college. I was a junior varsity rower after one year, I was set up to take AP classes the next year, and I was planning my life as a future lawyer.

The next year, I went on a road trip to 10 different colleges and fell in love with Franklin & Marshall. It was a bit of a reach, but I knew I could do it if I put in the effort. I was ready to leave my small town for another and embrace what the world had to offer.

After multiple visits with admissions counselors, common applications, and well-written essays, I had applied to five different colleges. However, I only had eyes for Franklin & Marshall. I had two letters of recommendation set up, including one from an alumna. I even applied early admission. I thought I was one step away from attending the college of my dreams.

But as John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” My guidance counselor neglected to send either of my letters of recommendation. I got a letter in December of my senior year detailing Franklin & Marshall's regrets. My world collapsed around me. I wondered why I had been working so hard for nothing. So I stopped working so hard, I stopped going to school all together, and I barely graduated.

Luckily I had gotten into every other school I applied to, so I had a choice. I ended up at a college in a farm town that housed Dove’s chocolate factory, Elizabethtown College. When you stepped outside, it was either a “chocolate day” or a “sh*t day” depending on the direction of the wind. I came to know some of my greatest friends while staying at the dorms but making the transition from high school drop out to a freshman at a liberal arts college was too much. I left after one semester.

Once I got home, I got a job as a waitress working full-time. I was adjusting back into normality, but I knew I wanted to get an education. I took two college courses at the local community college before realizing that it wasn’t for me.

Eventually, I admitted to myself that I wanted to be in a creative field. So I spent the next two years taking "continued education" art classes and building a portfolio to apply to my local art school – The Delaware College of Art and Design. I finished last semester with a 3.5 GPA. I’m 22 going into my sophomore year, but sometimes you have to realize that it’s not a race. You can never deem yourself a failure until you stop trying. That’s one thing I never did.

If I had never left college, I wouldn’t have met my cat or my wonderful boyfriend. Although I was devastated at the time, I can look back and see that it was something that needed to happen. If you are ever feeling hopeless or alone, just know that in a year everything could (and probably will be) completely different. You could be stumbling off a path that you thought was your destiny to travel one that will make you into the person you need to become.

Never give up. Get up tomorrow and try again. If you need support just reach out. Click here to go to the National Crisis Hotline where you can text or call whatever is on your mind and someone will talk you through it. Never be afraid to ask for help. If I hadn’t asked for help I couldn’t have built myself back up. It took four years, but I am finally living. And I don’t regret a damn thing.